Black Rose
by merekutt
Summary: After leaving an abusive relationship, Sakura finds solace in Naruto's arms. AU. NaruSaku Warning: Violence
1. Chapter 1

**Black Rose**

**Author: **Moe-shi

**Summary: **After leaving an abusive relationship, Sakura finds solace in Naruto's arms. AU. NaruSaku Warning: Violence

**Rating: **T

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto, or really anything in this story! :P

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**Chapter 1**

_The rain is really cold,_ Sakura Haruno noted dimly, her dull emerald green eyes blurring slightly as she dragged her banged up feet through the wet streets of Konoha. _It hurts._

Her arms seemed to sizzle as the rain hit them, falling into the fresh cuts all over her body. She felt strangely warm, even though her whole body was shaking more than it ever had in her entire life. It wasn't even a pleasant warmth. Instead she felt suffocated, like every breath she took would be her last.

Clutching her lean bloody arms to her chest, she stopped for a moment, taking small, shaky, ragged breaths. She was almost there, only a couple more blocks to go, then she would be with help. Although, bending over and coughing harshly, spitting up a small amount of blood, she wasn't sure she'd make it that far.

_One step at a time, _she encouraged herself, slowly straightening up, and lifting a petite foot that felt like it was full of bricks. Soon enough, she was moving, slowly but surely, until she was almost at her halfway point, the hospital where she spent most of her hours as a doctor.

Seeing the large white wash doors of the hospital tempted her, but she knew better than to go there and ask for help. _He _would find out, and she would surely receive a larger beating than the one tonight.

Sakura shivered inwardly as she remembered his cold words.

_Flashback_

_The cement was cold beneath her as she curled up into a small ball, feeling more helpless than she ever had in her entire life. She squeezed her eyelids tighter together, trying to block out the sneering face of Sasuke Uchiha._

_He spat in her face, and she cringed, the sudden movement bringing more pain to her body. "That's what you get, bitch."_

_He moved his leg in one swift motion, his foot connecting with her middle, and in a few quick seconds, she was coughing up blood. It tasted salty in her mouth, and she was sure that it would slowly choke her if she didn't get up. But she couldn't right now... not while he was watching._

_Before she could stop herself, she let out a small wimper, trying to curl in tighter to protect herself from that monster. He only laughed, a cruel, lifeless sound._

_As everything started to get dark, she could hear his footsteps retreading, and she let out a small sigh of relief._

_She needed help, she deduced, using the last amount of her strength to push herself into a sitting position. Her cloudy eyes peered around the dark room, and she could still she his back._

_As if he noticed she had sat, he turned his head back a bit, his cold ominous eyes piercing into her soul. "And hoe, if you go and get help, _I will find you_. And trust me, this time I was going easy on you."_

_Once again his laughter filled the empty room, and Sakura was left to sit and cry._

_End Flashback_

Why the heck did she do this to herself? She should have just stopped... she should have listened to their warnings. Why did she have to be so damn stubborn?

_Flashback_

_"Sakura, he's bad, bad news! You have to get yourself out when you're not that far in, please!" her best friend, Ino, pleaded with her, tears swimming in the bright blue eyes of the blonde._

_Sakura paused for a moment, a bit of doubt filling her mind, but she instantly pushed it out. "I'm different."_

_Ino rolled her eyes, "The same way I was different, and Hinata was different?"_

_"You're just jealous he actually likes me. Looks like history is repeating itself, eh, Pig?" she spat, knowing it was low. But she couldn't think straight, and Sakura tried to convince herself that was a good enough excuse._

_"Fine! But don't come crying to me when he pulls out the whip!"_

_End Flashback_

She didn't know it at the time, but that was probably the worst decision she'd ever made. That was the day she lost one of her best friends. It took her a while to realize it, but those were her glory days.

_It's not like it was my fault... I mean... _Sakura remembered, stopping for a moment to catch her breath, _he was so nice..._

_Flashback_

_"Sakura Haruno, right?" his smooth voice sent shivers down her spine, and she couldn't help the blush that appeared on her cheeks._

_"Yea." she smiled brightly up at him, "Sasuke Uchiha, right?"_

_He nodded curtly, but he seemed distracted by something, gracefully moving his arm up, and brushing a piece of hair away from her forehead. He then moved his hand down slowly, stroking her cheek softly._

_"So beautiful..." he murmered, his voice husky, and far more sexy than any other voice she had heard in her entire life._

_"Please." she laughed lightly, looking down at her hands, "I'm hardly pretty, or worth your time."_

_This seemed to amuse him, a smirk adorning his lips, one that made her heart stop. "Oh, Sakura, you are most definitely worth my time." she blushed darker, as he tilted her head so she was staring into his dark eyes, "Would you be, perhaps, interested in a date?"_

_"Yes!" she answered eagerly, before blushing and stammering about sounding like she was desperate, which she most definitely was not._

_He stopped her ramblings, leaning down and kissing her forehead softly. "See you later than, Haruno." he turned and strolled away._

_End Flashback_

But then again... she probably should have seen it coming.

_Flashback_

_"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled, glaring at her intensly. "Why the hell isn't there supper for me?"_

_Sakura's eyes widened, staring at him with slight fear, "It's 11 pm... I figured..."_

_"You figured wrong!" he raised his hand as if to slap her. He stopped just in time. "Do it right next time!"_

_End Flashback_

Those were the first signs... when it all started. He had actually started _hitting _her a few months ago, done with threatening. And now, after months of withstanding it, it finally got to the breaking point. She had been scared and fed up, and she wanted _out _of the relationship... which is how she got to where she was now.

_Flashback_

_"Sasuke, I'm not sure we should be together anymore." Sakura blinked timidly, as Sasuke's face flashed through different emotions, before his face finally twisted into pure rage. Sakura realized what was coming next._

_"Fine, bitch." he grabbed her wrist, dragging her with him, until they were in the basement of his home. She had tried to run away, but his strong grip kept her in place. "But take this as a lesson. Don't dump an Uchiha!"_

_He punched her, and she started seeing fuzzy spots, as he kneed her in the stomach._

_She fell to her knees, "Stop, Sasuke, please!"_

_"Tough luck, whore!"_

_End Flashback_

Maybe she shouldn't have said anything, Sakura mused, becoming more faint as she lost more blood. _At least it's over now._

Or at least she hoped it was over. If it wasn't... well, Sakura was sure that she would be close to death next time... if she didn't die now. All she needed was a little farther... she tried to remain positive, letting out another huge cough, as she turned onto her friend's street.

Sakura hadn't been in this part of Konoha for the longest time... just seeing the familiar street lamps brought nostalgia, and she couldn't help the tears that popped into her eyes as she wobbled down the old cement side walk.

_Naruto, _She remembered his shining blue eyes, his sun kissed skin, his goofy smile... she felt her heart ache. He was her very best friend, closer to her than Ino, and she had lost him, all for that selfish, stupid Uchiha.

_Flashback_

_"He hit me again, Naruto." he was the last of her friends left, and she was coming to him more often now._

_"God, Sakura, just stop talking to the mother fucker!" Naruto's eyes peered into hers, begging for her to see the truth. She just shook her head._

_"No, I can't. Even though he hits me, I know he loves me. I love him too."_

_Rage filled his blue orbs, glaring at the wall intensely. He looked like he was ready to kill something, "Sakura, he doesn't love you! I-I love you damnit!"_

_She froze, trying to avoid his gaze, standing up suddenly and moving toward the door, "Naruto, I have to go. Sorry."_

_"What, so you're choosing him over me? Fine, don't come back!"_

_End Flashback_

That was stupid of her, she noted, stupid, stupid, stupid. Maybe he would forgive her now... maybe all her friends would forgive her...

No, forgiveness was asking too much.

She reached the glass apartment doors, using her back to push them open, so that they didn't become covered in her blood, although, even that small pressure made her fall to her knees. Sobs wracked her body, and she couldn't help but wish she could redo everything... but she was never all that lucky.

Sakura wandered through the lobby, past the strangely empty front desk, to the old elevator that was Naruto's home. She used to love the oldness of the place. It was like an ancient palace, yet new at the same time. It made her smile whenever she was in it, but right now all she could do was frown.

_Ding..._

It reached the main floor, and to her relief, nobody was in it. She climbed in, using one of her bloody fingers to press the #7 on the keypad. Slowly, it rolled up to the seventh floor.

She felt more nostalgia as she peered out of the opening doors, into the empty level. It had the same charm as the rest of the place, like an old hotel in Hollywood. She always felt like a star when she entered it, with the dim lighting and the the scarlette carpet.

But the building didn't matter now, all that mattered was Naruto.

She moved her heavy feet, one at a time, each step weakening her just a bit more, until she was sure she would break. She just needed to get to the right door.

As she walked along, she read the numbers carved into the doors... #771... #773... #775... and finally, #777.

This was his door, she realized numbly, standing outside and swaying back and forth. It even had the faint smell of his favourite food, ramen. That made her smile a bit, although it only made her hurt more.

Now all she had to do was knock... but for some reason, she couldn't bring the courage to do so. She wasn't sure how long she stood there, outside his door, but it felt like hours.

Finally, her weak hand moved toward the hard cherry red of the door, and she slowly brought it down. She knocked quietly at first, raising her volume slightly when nobody came. Eventually, she finally heard some footsteps approaching.

**End Chapter 1**

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**Thanks for reading chapter 1 everybody! This is my first story, and I'm trying to put a lot of effort into making it really good... so I hope you enjoy it! If anyone has any suggestions or anything that they would really like to see happen, don't be afraid to message me, or tell me via review! I'll try and incorporate as much of your ideas as I can. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please review!**

**Yours truly,**

**Moe-shi**


	2. Chapter 2

**Black Rose**

**Author: **Moe-shi

**Summary: **After leaving an abusive relationship, Sakura finds solace in Naruto's arms. AU. NaruSaku Warning: Violence

**Rated: **T

**Reviews for the last chapter:**

**woowoo13: **Thanks a lot! :) I'm updating right now! I hope you like the new chapter.

**Lais: **Thanks! :) I'll try my best.

**Animaman: **Thanks, and don't worry, he'll _definitely _get beaten up.

**Demon Naruto 117: **Haha, I was gonna make it really angst-y, but... I didn't want the story to be too depressing!

**Misteree Gurl: **Thanks! That means a lot to me, because I'm constantly modifying and changing my style, so I can find a really good one that fits me.

**NarutoRocks21113043: **Thank you so much! I try, haha. I'm updating now, and I really hope you like this one as much as you liked the last!

**Echo Uchiha: **:O This story isn't really done... sadistically, necessarily... it was more just setting up the story for Naruto and Sakura to fall in love. You know, disasters often bring people together.

**mrgirmjaw: **Aww, thanks! :)

**Emily: **Thanks so much! I hope to be one some day! :)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, or anything else mentioned in this story... -sigh-

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**Chapter 2**

Sakura closed her large green eyes for a moment, holding her breath anxiously for the familiar sound of his soft, warm voice.

Silence.

She waited, and waited, but the silence remained, and she was almost scared as she opened her eye's a crack, peering in front of herself in shock.

_What?_

This was _not _Naruto's apartment... and if it was, then Naruto must have gained 300 pounds and dyed his hair black.

"What do you want, missy?" a gruff man asked in a low voice, staring at her with sharp, beady eyes. She shook a bit, holding onto the door frame for assistance.

"Um... um..." she hesitated for a moment, blinking, still in shock, "I'm... uh, looking for Naruto..."

He gave her a look that clearly read, 'Are you stupid?', and Sakura sighed inwardly, as the man began to speak again, "No Naruto here, kid."

She blinked a couple of times, trying to get rid of the tears that were threatening to spill out of her eyes. "W-what?" she stuttered, taking a shaky step back.

"I said, there aren't any people named Naruto here!" he yelled at her, and she flinched, scared of the large man's wrath.

"W-well... do you know where he could have gone? His name is Naruto Uzumaki..." she trailed off, and was surprised when the man's face dawned with realization.

"Oh, Uzumaki. Got the wrong room, kid. He's a door down."

"Oh..." she breathed out a sigh of relief, blushing a dark shade of red and mumbling a quick apology, bowing deeply.

The door was slammed in her face without another word, and the sharp noise almost threw her balance off. For a moment, she stayed where she was, staring at the cherry red door in embarrassment. _Wrong door..._ the man's voice echoed in her mind, and she wondered how she could have made that mistake.

She had been to this place so many times... how did she not know where he lived?

She took a deep breath in, moving toward the door the man had pointed her to, as her knees shook slightly.

"What if this isn't the right room?" she wondered, staring at the door where Naruto supposedly lived. It looked dirty compared to the other doors in the hall. One of the numbers, the 7 in 779, had fallen off. It left a light stain on the door, a faint outline of the number still there.

_I don't recognize this place_, she thought, as she cautiously raised her small hand to knock.

Although hurt, her knock still came out loud and full, and she smiled inwardly and thanked herself for her enormous strength.

Silence again.

She felt her eyes begin to fill with salty tears, and for a second she thought she would totally break down, letting out a small sigh as she began to turn back toward the elevator.

"Sakura?" a voice sounded behind her, and she whipped around, coming face to face with Naruto, holding multiple grocery bags. "What are you doing here?"

_He doesn't sound mad anymore_, she noted, as she clumsily tried to open her mouth and explain, but it just came out a slur, 'Sasuke' being the only eligible word, but he caught on quickly enough.

"He did this to you?" his face immediately became raged, and for a moment Sakura was a little scared, taking a small step back as he balled up his fists.

"Well, yes, but... don't overreact..." she finally found her voice, raising a hand to his shoulder, which he immediately shrugged off.

"Overreact? I'm not overreacting Sakura!" he turned slightly, punching the wall with such great force that it seemed to rumble, his grocery bags on the floor around him, forgotten.

Sakura looked fearfully around her, whispering to him in a hushed voice, "Don't be so loud, people might hear you..."

He looked at her then, straight in the eyes, his expression one of great disbelief. "Quiet? Sakura, you need to go to the hospital!"

She quickly shook her head, bringing up a bloodied hand to cover his mouth in a feeble attempt to shut him up. "No, not the hospital, or the police. Naruto, he said he'd _get me _if I did... Naruto, you're the only one I could come to..."

She was staring at the ground, trying to avoid his eyes, as Naruto tried to calm himself down, taking slow deep breaths.

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a key, moving in front of her to unlock the door. "Go inside," he mumbled, his voice still tight, "we can talk in there."

She tried to move gracefully into the room, but it only came out as a half wobble, and Sakura sighed in aggravation. She felt so weak.

The apartment was a little different than she remembered it, although the furniture was still the same. Instead of the beautiful place she remembered, this place was in slight shambles. _What had happened here?_

She realized that it didn't really matter right now, taking a moment to breath in the smells around her. They were the same. Maybe... maybe she had just forgotten what his apartment looked like...

For the first time in ages, she felt a bit at home, taking off her wet sneakers and placing them by the door like she always had.

But the question was, should she sit? Would Naruto be mad if she did?

She wasn't entirely sure _why _he would be mad, but she felt like he had the potential to be, so she remained standing, awkwardly twirling a piece of muddied pink hair between her fingertips as she waited for Naruto.

It took him a few minutes, but he entered the apartment with the picked up groceries, placing the bags on the counter, ignoring her completely as he began to put things away.

He reached up and grabbed two mugs from one of the top cupboards, filling them each up with milk and putting them in the microwave.

"Hot chocolate?" he asked, but she knew it was rhetorical, and chose to remain silent.

5 minutes later, the apartment was slightly clean (Sakura figured that the only reason Naruto had even attempted to put the groceries away was because he was trying to calm himself down), and Naruto was handing her a mug of warm cocoa.

She smiled gratefully at him, although, she was sure it looked like more of a grimace if anything.

"So..." she began, but he quickly cut her off.

"Why?" his voice was sharp as he spoke, his sky blue orbs glued to the window, "What was his excuse this time?"

She studied her mug carefully, looking at the swirls of Konoha's insignia printed on the cup. "I-I wanted to break up with him."

He glanced up at her in surprise, "You were going to break up with him?"

She nodded timidly, trying to avoid his searching eyes. "He didn't take it well."

Out of the corner of her eyes, Sakura watched as Naruto once again became inflamed with anger.

"That bastard!" his eyes flashed, "I'm going to kill him!"

"Calm down..." she whispered half halfheartedly, only to be ignored, as she had expected. "Please Naruto... don't do anything rash..."

"I won't do anything rash." Naruto glanced at her defiantly, "It's going to be very well planned out."

She had half the nerve to smile, but held it back. Right now, smiling didn't seem very appropriate. "Please! I came to you because I need somewhere to stay for the night. I didn't come because I wanted you to get him. He'll only hurt me more if you try."

He seemed to deflate then, collapsing into an old black leather couch in defeat. His head flopped against the back, and his eyes closed. He whispered softly, just loud enough for her to hear, "Sakura, you can use my shower, and I'll leave some clothes outside the door."

"Thank you." she ducked her head as she left the room, entering a hallway. It seemed slightly familiar, but the recognition went no farther than that. She moved cautiously towards the room that she expected to be a bathroom, but was surprised when it turned out to be a closet.

_Where's the bathroom_? She wondered, looking around the hallway in a panic. She would have asked Naruto, but he seemed to want to be alone at the moment.

Instead, she cautiously began to walk down the hallway, attempting to find it. Eventually, she noticed a slightly open door, with a toilette in the corner of the room.

She pushed it open slowly, jumping when it let out a loud squeak. The bathroom was similar to what she remembered... but, it still wasn't the same. She had to get to the bottom of this... although, what she needed first was a shower.

It was a classic bathroom, small, but it still had its charm. It was large enough that she didn't feel claustrophobic, but small enough that she didn't feel swallowed up. It was kind of perfect, she decided, as she peeled off layers of grimy clothes.

A shower would feel _so _good right now, she smiled slightly, stepping into the shower and drawing the curtain closed.

Soon, water began pouring onto her sore limbs, and she sighed contentedly, the warmth untangling her tense muscles. _This is so nice..._

She watched as dirt and blood swirled down the drain, making the water turn a very dark brown. She curiously waited for the water to turn it's pure colour again, but it still remained burgundy. Sakura groaned, wondering inwardly just how covered she was in dirt.

Just as the water began to return to its crystal clear state, Sakura brought a scarred hand up to her head, attempting to massage the dirt out of it. Once again, the drain was dark.

After she was cleaned, hair shampooed and conditioned, she stepped out of the shower, shivering slightly at the abrupt change in temperature. She wrapped her skinny arms around herself, glancing around the room until her eyes found a towel. She wobbled over to it, wrapping herself in the blood red cloth.

She took a deep breath, opening the door a crack, only to see a small pile of clothes waiting outside for her, just like promised.

She grabbed them, closing the door again, her arms about to slip the towel off her partially dry body, but she paused for a moment.

_Do I really want to go out there right no_w? She wondered, ultimately deciding that, no, she was not quite ready to face Naruto again.

She glanced around the room for a moment, her eyes resting on a pair of doors, hidden by large curtains.

Even though in her memories the doors were on the other side of the room, she didn't really care at the moment. Right now, she just wanted to relax.

It used to annoy her that there were giant terrace glass doors in the bathroom, leading out to the balcony, but right now she was grateful. Fresh air was just what she needed.

She stepped out into the cold night air, breathing it all in. The rain had stopped, and now it was just wet, the sky clear, and filled with millions of little stars.

"A perfect night," she mumbled under her breath, staring up at the large full moon, "a perfect end to a totally imperfect day."

_Flashback _

_Her knees were curled up to her chest, in an attempt to warm herself from the coldness surrounding her, as small tears fell down her cheeks. _

"_Why are you crying?" a soft voice sounded from behind her, and she jumped slightly, turning to find a small boy her age. _

"_W-why do you want t-to know?" she sniffled slightly, bringing a purple sleeve up to wipe her nose. _

_He smiled at her lightly, slowly sitting down beside her. "Who says I need a reason?"_

_She lifted her face from between her legs, studying the boy beside her. He had hair as blonde and as bright as the stars above their heads, and eyes as blue as the morning sky. He was like summer, she realized subconsciously, gazing at him with wonder in her sea foam eyes._

"_They said I look weird..." she bit her lip slightly, letting her bangs flop in front of her eyes, "my foreheads too big, and I'm too smart... I'm ugly."_

_He leaned close to her, bringing a small hand up to brush away the bangs from her face, his orbs piercing her soul, "You're not ugly. You're beautiful."_

_She blushed prettily, looking away from the small boy as she tried to avoid his gaze, "Thank you, I guess..."_

_He laughed, his voice rich and full, filling the silence around them. He flopped onto his back, looking up into the night sky, a smile still full on his face. "You know, if you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's okay. But you have to shoot for something. A lot of people don't even try." _

_He turned his head to look at her, and she smiled back at him, the tears dried from her face. "I'm Sakura."_

_He grinned, "I'm Naruto."_

_End Flashback_

That was the night she met him, almost 12 years ago, when they were both 6 years old with hardly a care in the world. As it turned out, Naruto was as well liked by his classmates as she was by hers, and she found strength in how positive he stayed even though he was bullied too.

They were each others confidant, someone that they trusted their own lives with.

If she really thought about it, she would give her life for his in a heart beat.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

By the time she went back into the apartment, it was almost spotless. She would have fallen over in shock if the situation had been any different.

She was clad in a pair of navy blue plaid pants and an old red shirt of Naruto's, which smelled faintly of Ramen, and a bit salty, like the ocean... just like him.

Said man was waiting for her when she came out, just like she had left him, but this time he was calm, and he smiled at her, patting the spot beside him as he flipped through the channels on the television.

_Ah_, she realized, _he's going to pretend like nothing happened. That's fine with me._

She plopped down beside him, letting herself lean slightly into his body, the warmth feeling good on her aching limbs.

He glanced down at her in slight surprise, but he didn't make a move to push her away, instead wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer.

"Thanks for this Naruto." she smiled up at him, and she felt drawn by his sky blue eyes.

"It's nothing," he said softly, "you know I'd do anything for you."

She stared into his ocean blue eyes, grinning up at him, before she remembered what she was going to ask him before. "Naruto... am I crazy, or is this apartment different then I remember?"

He chuckled softly, looking up at the ceiling with a sigh. "I had to switch apartments, because I couldn't afford the other one anymore. This one is much cheaper."

_Oh..._ she nodded slightly, glancing at the pealing wallpaper on the walls. "What happened to your apprenticeship under Jiraiya?"

He looked pained for a moment, looking down at his hands as he mumbled softly, "He died."

She gasped, throwing herself into his arms, as she gave him a huge hug. "I'm so, so sorry Naruto! Why didn't you call me? I would have come..."

He glanced at her in slight surprise, "You didn't get my messages? Sakura, I've called you a lot. Sasuke said..." he trailed off, realization dawning in his eyes. "He never gave you the messages, did he?"

She felt her eyes become wet, "No... Naruto, I thought you hated me!"

He smiled at her, all anger forgotten, "Of course not. I forgave you the second you left my house. I tried to call you that night, but he said you were out."

Sakura glared at the wall, "I wasn't out. I was lying in my room, crying all night."

Naruto looked at her guiltily, "I didn't want you to cry over me..."

"You're my best friend, of course I cried over you." she smiled lightly at him, punching his arm playfully.

He jokingly winced, rubbing his arm, "Ow, Sakura-chan... why you gotta be so mean?"

Sakura grinned at the familiar suffix at the end of her name, feeling all previous awkwardness fly out of the room. "Because you're an idiot, that's why."

"Yeah, well, that's not what Tsunade said." he spoke fondly of the owner of Konoha hospital, and the mayor of their little town.

She gave him a look.

"Well... she wasn't as mean about it as you are." he pouted softly, and Sakura smiled up at him brightly.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!" she smiled at him, and he laughed, ruffling her hair jokingly. "Naruto! Don't become like Kakashi-sensei!" she whined, pushing his hand away.

"Sakura-a-a, I'm going to be the best mayor this town has ever had... I don't need to get any stronger!" he grinned at her, and Sakura smiled at his familiar dream.

"Yeah, yeah." she waved her hand in the air, pushing away his comment like it was nothing, "How is everyone anyway?"

"They're okay I guess..." he trailed off slightly, "But, you should come and see for yourself! I could always just... call up everyone. Head to a bar..."

"Not tonight," she shook her head, although she was excited by the thought of seeing her old friends again, "maybe in a week... when I feel better... and don't look so horrible."

"Sakura-chan, for your information, you look beautiful..." he mumbled the last part, a soft blush staining his cheeks.

Sakura glanced over at him with a little smile on her face, a small blush of her own adorning her cheeks. As he continued to avoid her gaze, Sakura finally voiced a question that had been on her mind all night.

"Naruto," she glanced down at her hands, "do you still love me?"

He looked at her in shock, not expecting the sudden question. "O-of course I do Sakura... you're my first and only love."

Sakura smiled lightly to herself, knowing that some things would never change.

When she glanced up again, she was caught in Naruto's intense gaze, and she felt her breath hitch in her throat. "N-Naru-"

She was cut off by a pair of lips on her own. At first, she was surprised, but it only took her a moment to kiss him back, pushing all other thoughts out of her mind as he pulled her closer.

She shivered in delight, feeling something that she hadn't felt in a long time, as she reached her arms up behind his head.

_Do I... do I like Naruto? _

They both pulled away after a moment, breathing heavily as their breaths mingled, staring into each others eyes.

"Naruto... what just happened?" she asked, and the question seemed to knock Naruto out of a daze, as he jumped off the couch, looking at her guiltily.

"Oh god," he groaned softly, "what am I doing?"

He ran his fingers through his hair, "I'm so sorry Sakura. I don't know what came over me, and I..." he trailed off, glancing at her one more time, before leaving the room.

"Naruto?" she said softly, hearing the sound of a bedroom door closing. "Naruto, Naruto, wait!"

She got up off the couch, and with some strange burst of strength she didn't know she had, she raced to the door he had entered, banging on it loudly.

"Open up, Naruto!" she continued to bang, even though silence was her only answer, eventually becoming so frustrated that she flung the door open and marched forward.

"Why did you run away?" she asked, her voice low and menacing as Naruto avoided her gaze.

"Look, I'm sorry," he ignored her question, "it won't happen again."

She sighed, moving forward so that she was right in front of him. She embraced him slowly, "Naruto, I'm not sure what I feel right now... but that felt right."

Naruto blinked in surprise, glancing up at her blushing face, "Sakura-chan?" he looked at her curiously, as she smiled at him silently, dipping her head and capturing his lips in hers.

"W-what?" he stuttered, pulling away from her questionably.

She rolled her eyes, "Just shut up and kiss me..." and with that, she closed the distance between them.

**End Chapter 2**

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**Thanks so much for reading this story, and thanks to everyone that has reviewed so far! I am very proud of this story so far, and I'm happy so many of you enjoy it. If anyone's wondering, I edited this chapter and re-posted it, because I felt the original chapter was moving to fast, and missing some key stuff. Anyway, I hope you guys like this version better! Please read and review,**

**Yours truly,**

**Moe-shi**


	3. Chapter 3

**Black Rose**

**Author: **Moe-shi

**Summary: **After leaving an abusive relationship, Sakura finds solace in Naruto's arms. AU. NaruSaku Warning: Violence

**Rating: **T

******Reviews for the last chapter:**

**Muerte-chan: **Haha, thanks! And yeah, it is definitely an alternate universe, because... well, Sakura wouldn't have gotten beaten up in the first place! :) Anyway, thanks for the review, and I'm updating now!

**Twinitech 2: **Thanks, that was my goal! :P

**Echo Uchiha: **Exactly! :) Thanks for the review!

**mrgirmjaw: **Aww, thanks so much!

**Lazy Gaga: **Thanks! And yeah, the first couple of months were great, but then... we had exams (dun dun duuuunnn...). Haha, I have time now that they're over for me, so I figured, why not update?

**...this person didn't give a name: **Thank you so much unknown reviewer! :) I'll definitely keep going, I already have 16 reviews! I'm very happy with how it's turning out!

**drama3chic: **Aww, thanks so much! I'm updating now, hope you enjoy the new chapter!

******Disclaimer: **I don't own anything in this story, which is so sad! :O

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**Chapter 3**

Sakura slowly opened her eyelids, peering around the empty bedroom. It was morning, she thought decidedly, as she noticed small bits of sunlight making its way through the closed curtains.

She pulled herself into a sitting position, her legs crossed beneath her, as she reached her arms above her head and stretched, wincing slightly as she heard her back crack. Rubbing her sore shoulders, she glanced beside her, only to see the beautiful face of her childhood friend. He was sleeping peacefully, a soft smile on his face, and Sakura could almost imagine what he was dreaming about.

_Probably pounding Sasuke,_ she giggled inwardly, slipping out from under the covers and grabbing a sweater of Naruto's from off a chair. She slipped it on, and it fell loosely against her lean frame. It smelled similarly of how the shirt had smelled the night before, except maybe a little stronger...

_Mmm... _Sakura inhaled the familiar smells of the shirt, _He smells so- wait... this is really creepy. _She stopped mid-sniff, peering at the boy out of the corner of her eyes, _Good... he's still sleeping. _

Glancing back at Naruto once more, she slipped (the better word being stumbled) out of the bedroom, moving towards the kitchen as her stomach let out a loud growl. "So... hungry..." she moaned softly, stopping at the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Before going to bed last night - and no, they did _not _do anything, Naruto had attempted to bandage her wounds... the key word being attempted. As of now, the messily done bandages were practically falling off of her body, and Sakura knew she would have to redo them herself, no matter how hard it would prove to be.

Given the fact that one of her arms was broken (or maybe just fractured – but hey, it hurt like _hell_), she knew that this was probably a bad idea. A very bad idea. But what other choice did she have? _None, _she reminded herself, letting out a sigh as she left the bathroom, wobbling into the kitchen.

She carefully sat Naruto's old, worn, leather couch, observing the familiar tears and stains on it. It may sound weird, but she had many good memories on this couch.

_Flashback_

_A group of teens stumbled into the messy apartment, giggling as one of them fell over drunkenly. "Get up Kiba-kun!" Sakura pointed a shaky finger towards the dog boy, laughing as he attempted to stand, before falling down again._

"_You're like a... like a turtle!" Naruto shouted, and Kiba glared at the blonde boy. _

"_At least... at least..." Kiba trailed off, continuing to glare as Naruto smirked triumphantly, trying to look cool as he went to lean on the door frame. Unfortunately, he missed it entirely, joining Kiba in a heap on the floor. _

_More laughter filled the room, as Sakura giggled, falling atop of the two boys, "Party on the apartment floor!" she sang, changing the lyrics to a song they had heard in the club earlier that night. _

"_Fore-Forehead!" a high pitched drunken voice interrupted their laughter, as a blonde girl stumbled forward, giggling girlishly, "You're going to wr-wrinkle my new designer shirt-t-t!" she whined, crossing her arms, as she glared at her best friend._

"_Shut u-up Piggy!" Sakura kicked her friend playfully in the leg, who responded, by falling on top of her, leaving Sakura to moan under the weight, "Pig, why... are you... __so heavy?__"_

_Ino immediately sat up, glaring dangerously at her friend, "What did you just say?"_

_Sakura froze, her emerald green eyes narrowing, "I sai- I sai-" Sakura made a noise in her throat, "I said, that you need to lose a couple of pounds!"_

_They stared at each other with contempt for a moment, before finally running at each other, fighting and throwing words back and forth._

_To an innocent bystander that didn't know the two girls, they looked like they were about to murder each other, hate burning in their eyes._

_However, if you _weren't _an innocent bystander, than you would see something below the hate. You would see a playfulness, and you would see small smiles on their faces, and you would notice how those words weren't the ones that would really hurt them, or that the hits weren't really that strong._

"_Sakura-chan, Ino, stop-stop fighting!" Naruto moaned, trying to get his foot out from underneath of Sakura and Ino. "I can't stand up!" _

_Sakura paused mid hair-pull, "Are-are you saying we're fat?" _

_And with that, both girls were unleashed upon him._

_Later that night, the whole crew was situated on Naruto's leather couch, a television blaring in the background. They'd started a movie, but had fallen asleep in the first five minutes. _

_Naruto sat in the middle of Sakura and Ino, 2 large bumps in the middle of his head._

_End Flashback_

She placed a pack of medical supplies beside her, as she began to unravel an old bandage, grimacing at the gory sight beneath it.

There was a huge gash, that although wasn't very long, was very deep. The bandages that were previously wrapping the cut, were soaked in dark red blood. She cleaned the cut to the best of her ability, before re-wrapping it with her skilled doctor hands.

"Ow!" she let out a small yelp of pain as she put pressure on her right arm, attempting to mask the large amount of pain she was feeling. If only she could just... but no, that was impossible.

After she was done with her wounds, she cleaned up the mess she had made, making sure that there weren't any blood stains on the couch. Faintly, though, the smell of disinfectant still hung in the air.

She stood up slowly, attempting to swat away the smell with her hand, as she waved it back and forth. Her nose crunched up in distaste, because although she sometimes found comfort in the smell, currently it made her want to throw up.

Sighing, Sakura went into the kitchen, attempting to find some food. Unfortunately, that task turned out to be far more difficult than she had hoped. Eventually, she just settled for a bowl of cereal. After opening the fridge, she opted to go without milk, as Naruto's looked old and covered in mold. She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

Hadn't he just gone shopping? Sakura sighed, remembering that she saw a bunch of instant ramen containers inside of the shopping bags. She had just assumed that was only the top layer, that he had gotten _some _healthy food, but apparently not.

She was going to have to go shopping.

She plopped onto the couch, turning the television on with a click. There wasn't really much on, and so despite her inner cries of horror, she flipped to the news.

She _hated _the news.

"-was broken into last night, and the police are currently unaware of the resident's location." she caught the news mid-story, settling deeper into the couch as she plopped a dry flake into her mouth.

"This picture was taken of the house, shortly after the police arrived. If anyone has any information on the robber, or of the resident's location, please call in at..." Sakura tuned out of the news cast, staring at the TV in dumb shock. That-that was her house!

Sasuke... a small voice in head chimed, he must have broken into her house last night! Thanks _god _she hadn't went there. She would be... well, she wouldn't be okay, that was for sure.

If she still wasn't a little scared of what they might do, she would have called into the news station, but she had a feeling that would be a horrible idea.

"Sakura?" a voice called to her from the doorway, and she quickly used the remote to shut the television off, before turning towards Naruto.

"Morning..." she smiled warmly at him, and she hoped he hadn't heard the news cast.

"What were you doing?" he asked curiously, and Sakura sighed in relief, he definitely hadn't.

"Just watching TV, and eating some cereal." she glanced down at the barely touched cereal in her hands, and smiled sheepishly at Naruto.

He chuckled lightly, glancing at her form, "We need to head over to your place and pick up your clothes... not that you don't look good in my clothes, but..."

Her eyes widened slightly as he spoke, before she quickly shouted, "No!" he looked at her curiously, "I mean, um... I don't really have many clothes back at my apartment. They are... uh... all at Sasuke's... so I think I'll have to buy some for the time being."

He looked a little annoyed (not at her, she knew, at the mention of Sasuke instead), but he nodded anyway. "Okay, I'll get Hinata to take you later today. Do you remember her from high school? She's been hanging with us a bit, because Neji has to watch over her, and... well, anyway, she would probably be better at that than me."

Sakura grinned, "Hinata-chan? She worked at the hospital with me, she wanted to be a doctor so bad, so I apprenticed her a bit last year. I wonder how she's doing..."

_She can look at my wounds too!_ Sakura thought excitedly, getting off the couch as fast as she could without causing herself pain. _But what to wear?_

"Naruto..." Sakura limped past him, towards his closet. "don't you have some old clothes of mine somewhere? I mean, I'm sure I left something..."

She rummaged through the clothes for a couple of minutes, ignoring the half ass answer she received, until she victoriously pulled out an old summer dress. "Yes! I knew it!"

She turned towards Naruto, "Do you think you could call Hinata and tell her to bring a pair of sandals or something over? I don't have any shoes, and our feet are the same size." when she saw him move towards the phone in the room, Sakura pointed towards the door, "Out! I'm getting changed."

She would have gone over and punched him when he hesitated, but she couldn't move fast enough, and soon he was out of the room.

Sakura rolled her eyes. _What a pervert. _

Carefully, she slipped on her old summer dress. It was pretty old, maybe 3 or 4 years, something that she had worn during the summer. If she remembered correctly, it was from the night of Neji's 16th birthday. It was a huge celebration, because that meant that someone in their group could finally drive. Sometimes it was good to have a friend a year older than yourself.

After the party, she had been planning to head to Ino's house, but unfortunately the Yamanka's decided to return from a business trip. In Ino's house, no friends were allowed over... ever. Her dad was way too overprotective. So, parents = no sleepover. That meant she had nowhere to stay.

Although she would never tell her parents this (it was easy to say that she had been allowed to stay at Ino's), she had ended up sleeping over at Naruto's that night. He was her best friend, and she knew he would never touch her, but her parents didn't know that.

She'd had a change of clothes, and had accidentally forgotten the dress there when she left the next morning. When Naruto asked if she wanted it back, she had laughed and shrugged. She figured that having a dress lying around wouldn't be a bad thing.

Thank goodness she was so smart.

When she finally had the dress on her body, she realized that she needed it zipped up. Naruto.

"Naruto-kun..." she called out, hoping that he would hear her. _I hope he's not still on the phone. _"Can you come in here please?"

It only took 8 seconds (Sakura counted) until Naruto burst in the room. "What do you need, Sakura-chan?"

She sweat dropped, "Uh... would you mind zipping my dress up?"

Naruto seemed to deflate thn, grumbling slightly to himself, as he wandered over to where she was standing, "I thought I was going to get lucky..." he mumbled quietly to himself, until he was right behind her.

Sakura's eyes widened as she processed what he had just said, turning and bopping Naruto on the head, as she shrieked, "Hentai! Hentai!"

"Mou... Sakura-chan..." he rubbed his head, and she turned her back to him, waiting until she felt his warm hands on her back, "Are you ready?"

"Mhm..." she confirmed, sucking in slightly as she felt her dress being zipped up from the back. "Thank you, Naruto." she smiled at him, turning around and wrapping her arms around his neck so that their foreheads touched.

"Anytime Sakura-chan." he grinned at her, pressing his lips to hers in a quick kiss.

"When is Hinata-chan coming over?" Sakura enquired, pulling away from the boy teasingly. She smiled discreetly as she saw him pout. _That's what you get, you pervert. _

"Uh..." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, "she said... um..."

"You forgot, didn't you?" Sakura gave him a menacing look, narrowing her eyes as he continued to stand there helplessly.

"Well... you see..." he babbled on for a moment more, before finally nodding his head lamely, as Sakura glared at him with her emerald green eyes. She was about to limp forward and smack him on the arm, when they both heard a soft pounding.

"Hinata-chan!" Sakura excitedly turned around, totally forgetting all of her previous anger. She wobbled as quick as she could toward the front door, getting there in record time. Zealously, she opened the cherry door. "Ohayo!"

"O-ohayo gozaimasu Sakura-chan." Hinata said softly, timidly smiling up at the doctor, as she handed her a bag, "The-these are the shoes you w-wanted..." she paused, glancing down at the floor in embarrassment as Sakura said a quick thank you, "How are you feeling?"

Sakura grinned at her friend, surprising the young woman by pulling her into a hug. She softly whispered into her hair, "Well... I'm a little beaten up, but that's to be expected, ne?"

Hinata nodded timidly, looking up and finally noticing the bandages covering the rosette's body. Her eye's widened, "Sakura-chan, you're hurt!"

Sakura nodded lamely as her friend quickly went into doctor mode (_Just like I taught her_, the pinkette couldn't help but think proudly), examining the bruises and cuts that covered the young girls body. "This isn't good..." Hinata looked at a gash that trailed up her friends back, the previous stutter gone.

"It was... it was from Sasuke." Sakura mumbled, wincing slightly as she felt it being cleaned by disinfectant.

"Ah." was her only reply.

With Hinata's capable hands, she was properly bandaged and fixed up in no time. "A break..." Hinata had said while observing her right arm. She had made her a makeshift cast for the time being, until they could get her a real one.

"Arigatou Hinata-chan!" Sakura smiled at her friend, who looked proud to have impressed her mentor.

"Your welcome S-Sakura-chan..." she timidly looked down at her hands, and Sakura grinned, the girl was so shy. Until they became reacquainted, Sakura knew she would have to do most of the talking.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto broke into Sakura's thoughts as he entered the room, jumping forward and embracing the blushing blue haired woman.

"Ohayo N-Naruto-kun..." she smiled brightly, her face turning a cherry red tomato colour. "H-how a-are you?"

"Eh... I'm fine... but how are you?" he asked, pulling away from her and leaning against the door frame. "I heard that you're not going to inherit your dad's company anymore."

Hinata blushed, "N-no... I think that N-Neji would d-do a m-much better j-job..."

Naruto nodded and the two continued to converse, as Sakura watched curiously. Before, Hinata's stutter had been almost gone, but now, here it was again... full force. _Why?_

She watched out of the corner of her eye as Naruto touched Hinata's arm, and the girl looked like she was going to faint, smiling brighter than she had all morning. Suddenly, something clicked in her mind. _Hinata likes Naruto?_

She had known the girl had harboured a small crush on the boy back in grade school, but... that was so long ago! How did she still... ? _He's mine. _

Sakura felt a surge of jealousy bloom in her heart, and she was surprised. She wasn't jealous, was she? _It's not like... like Naruto likes Hinata or anything... right? _She tried to convince herself, pulling nervously at her pink locks as Naruto leaned forward to ruffle Hinata's hair softly. _He does that to me!_

Suddenly, all that mattered was stopping their interaction.

"So, are you ready to go?" Sakura broke in, standing up and staggering toward the door. She separated the two, making sure to make a show of turning towards Naruto and embracing him. She went up on her tiptoes, and pushed her lips against his, whispering quietly, "Bye, Naruto-kun."

Naruto blushed, kissing her again on the lips again, reluctantly pulling away after a moment. As she turned to leave, his hand lingered on her arm, and she felt a shiver run up her spine. _Mission success. _

She casually turned toward Hinata, immediately regretting her previous actions. The hurt and sadness was apparent in the timid girl's eyes, and Sakura wished she could re-do the last 5 minutes.

"Um... let's go..." she said awkwardly, trying to break the silence. She marched out of the apartment, Hinata following quietly behind her.

They both left the apartment silently, the guilt still tearing at Sakura's heart. "Hinata... I'm sorry."

Hinata looked at her mentor curiously, "W-why are you sorry?

"I..." Sakura bit her lip, looking in the opposite direction, "I didn't know that you liked Naruto before he and I... but when I saw him with you, I felt so jealous, and-and I had to show you he was mine! I feel so badly now, because I know you didn't deserve it. It was my own selfishness."

It was silent for another moment, until Hinata turned toward her, smiling, "Sakura-chan, e-even though I like Naruto-kun, it doesn't mean that I want to take him from you. T-truthfully, I don't think we're that great of a match..." she shrugged her shoulders, "B-but you guys... you guys were made for each o-other."

Sakura smiled at her friend and pulled her in for a hug, "I'm so glad we're okay!" she laughed as Hinata nodded cutely, "Do you really think that we'll be good together?" She looked down at her hands, attempting to disguise the real worry on her face as curiosity.

Hinata giggled, "Of course... y-you guys are perfect together! To tell the t-truth, the only reason I had a bit of a chance with Naruto is b-because you were always ignoring him. You have to be blind not to s-see your guys' connection."

Sakura smiled, "Really?"

"Really." Hinata confirmed, nodding her head curtly. "H-how about we get you some clothes now?"

Sakura grinned brightly, and they entered one of her favourite shops, about to buy Sakura a much needed new wardrobe.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

"Naruto, I'm back!" she closed the door behind her, hauling in the many bags of clothes, "Hinata decided to go home, because she has some dumb clan meeting to attend to. Anyway-" she broke off mid-word, finally becoming aware of the person in front of her. She narrowed her eyes, trying not to show the fear that was edging into her heart, "Sasuke."

"Sakura," the Uchiha nodded to her, smirking as he saw her flinch, "what, did you think you could hide from me forever?"

Sakura looked away, trying to avoid his mesmerizing gaze. Even now, cleaned up, he sent shivers down her spine. After what he did, even just a look from him made her want to scream in fright. "What do you want, S-Sasuke?"

_Damn, I stuttered. _

He chuckled, "Well, I'm not going to just let you get away. You're mine Sakura, don't you forget that."

Sakura was about to say that she was her own person and she did _not _belong to anyone, but something suddenly occurred to her, "Sasuke, where is Naruto?"

A sly look came over his face, and she felt her stomach drop, attempting to prepare herself for the words that came next, "He's... not with us right now."

She gasped, staggering backwards and holding onto the frame of the door for support. "W-what? Sasuke," she began to tear up, "give him back! Please, he didn't do anything to you!"

"He took my girl away from me." Sasuke said simply, glaring at the wall as Sakura's eyes widened.

"Your girl? You have no right to call me your-your girl after what you did to me!" she screeched at him, attempting to make her voice loud enough that the neighbours would hear. Hopefully these weren't the kind of neighbours that pretended they didn't hear anything while a murder was going on.

"Sakura, do we need a repeat of last night?" he asked smoothly, crossing his arms in a confrontational manor.

Sakura stared at him in shock. _That was only yesterday? It felt... so long ago... so much has changed._

"W-why won't you just leave me alone?" she stuttered, having a hard time maintaining eye contact with the _monster. _

"Because, like I said..." he smiled at her in a way that was partially sadistic, and partially just plain... creepy, "you never dump an Uchiha." he took a step towards her, and Sakura stiffened.

"S-Sasuke... you're scaring me." she backed out of the apartment, so that she was just outside of the room, "Please... please, just leave me alone!"

"Never..." he said the word in an almost whisper, gliding towards her gracefully, forcing her to back up until her back was slammed against the wall. He used a pale hand to tilt her chin up, "Look at me Sakura."

She forced her chin out of his grasp, looking in the other direction. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sasuke's gaze harden as he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "Sakura, look at me!"

As tears began cascading down her cheeks, Sakura still refused to look up at the young man, hoping – wishing that somebody would hear her pleas. _Please..._

She looked desperately down the hallway, willing for someone to come through the elevator doors, but they remained closed. _This is it... _she thought, sighing, as she let Sasuke control her, forcing her to look into his eyes, _Nobody will come for me now. So... this is it._

His black, obsidian eyes were different than she used to remember them. When she was younger, and he was part of their group (he had hung around them in grade school, but in high school had branched out to hang with the 'popular kids'), she remembered his eyes as deep pools of loneliness. Reaching out to her, calling her... beckoning her to take a swim.

Now all she saw was a dark prison, threatening to lock her up.

As she felt herself being bound, her arms behind her back – cast forgotten on the floor, she began to feel her mind wander. She felt very detached from the situation. Smiling thoughtfully to herself, she couldn't help but muse, _It's almost like I'm not here..._

"Why are you smiling?" Sasuke barked, shoving her forward. The harshness almost made her weak knees collapse, but she stayed strong. After all, if she was going to go out, than she was going to go out strong.

Sakura turned back to look at him, the smile still settled on her lips, "I won't cry because it's over... I'll smile because it happened."

She watched as his expression became raged, and she saw as he lifted his fist back to knock her out. After the impact came, there were three seconds of consciousness. In the first, all she could think about was how much that hurt, and whether she was going to wake up or not. The next second was when she heard something.

In the distance, she heard the noise of a door opening, and the sound of footsteps running up to her. The last second of awareness, she realized she knew exactly who this was.

"Sakura!"

**End Chapter 3**

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**I'm so glad that so many people are enjoying this story so far! I'll try and update as soon as I can! I figure it will be pretty soon, because I have so much free time now. -.- Haha, anyways, if anybody has any questions about what is going on so far, don't be afraid to ask! And don't forget to review :),**

**Yours truly,**

**Moe-shi**


	4. Chapter 4

**Black Rose**

**Author: **Moe-shi

**Summary: **After leaving an abusive relationship, Sakura finds solace in Naruto's arms. AU. NaruSaku Warning: Violence

**Rated: **T

**Reviews for the last chapter:**

**hideki411: **I'm not really too sure how you sent in two reviews for the same chapter O.O, but you did anyway. They were virtually the same ('cept for the last couple of words), so I'll just answer them together. Thanks so much! I'm updating now! :) ... also, haha, just read on and find out what happens.

**charles cdv: **Thanks! :) I'll do my best!

**kekisan21: **Thanks so much! I'm updating now! :P

**Nutt Man 117: **Haha thanks, I do my best! ;)

**G: **Thanks! I'm updating now, hope you enjoy it.

**Muerte-chan: **Hah, I wasn't aware I was quoting anyone O.o. But thanks for reviewing!

**Darious Frost: **Yay! I'm happy I can make you have a vision, :P. Don't worry, Sakura will step up soon enough!

**Lazy Gaga: **Thanks for the review! I hope you like the new chapter!

**ILASMIC: **Thanks so much! I'm updating now~

**damnn: **Thanks, that means a lot to me! I hope you like this chapter! ;)

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto... or... well, anything. /cry

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**Chapter 4**

When Sakura finally opened her eyes, the only thing that she could register was the soft beeping in the background, and the familiar smell of anaesthetic. It only took her mind a minute to realize that she was in a hospital, and a soft smile came to her face. Hospitals were normal, and normal was good.

But... how did she get to somewhere so... safe?

The last thing she could remember she was getting home to Naru- oh yeah, _Sasuke _was there. The memories slowly filed back into her mind, sorting themselves out inside her head until she remembered the whole event, minus some little fuzzy spots.

_At least up until I blacked out._

But if she was in a hospital, than where was-

"S-Sakura?" a quiet voice croaked from the chair beside her, startling her slightly. She hadn't realized anyone was there, "You-you're awake?"

The pinkette slowly moved her head towards the talking person, her head aching a bit. When she finally met the blue eyes of the speaker, she was shocked.

The woman in front of her was ragged, dirty, and just plain... unhealthy looking. A mere shadow of the woman that she used to be. Her once radiant blonde hair was greasy and kept in a messy ponytail that was hardly succeeding keeping it away from her now dull blue eyes.

"I-Ino?" she stuttered, a slightly curious and a little scared as to why the blonde was here. Didn't she... hate her?

Ino looked down at her small hands, trying to keep Sakura from seeing the tears that were filling her large eyes, although she failed miserably. Sakura pushed herself up slightly, before bringing one of her hands to rest on top of the other woman's.

"It's okay..." she mumbled softly, a bit unsure of what to do, as she ran her small fingers back and forth over the girl's hand.

The blonde looked up quickly, surprising Sakura, tears still fresh in her eyes. A look of determination took over. "No, it isn't," she told her, using the familiar, 'I'm right' tone of voice, "Maybe-maybe if I hadn't abandoned you back then, you wouldn't have been this badly hurt."

Sakura sighed inwardly, realizing that she was going to get a similar story from most of her friends. They all felt guilt for something that was her own fault. "Don't be sorry." she smiled at Ino, "I deserved it, and besides, I was hardly hurt."

A tear slipped out of other girl's eye, as she stared at the pink haired woman incredulously, "Sakura, you were out for two weeks. You were in a _coma._"

The words hit her like a ton. A coma? For two whole weeks? She felt herself go into slight panic mode, inwardly wishing she was allowed to do tests on herself. What if she had brain damage? "I was?"

It explained Ino's dirty appearance.

"Yeah." she looked at the wall, "I was a little hurt too, but I guess somebody called the cops, and Sasuke couldn't hurt me too bad."

Sakura looked at the girl excitedly, "Did they catch him?"

Ino sighed, "No... what happened was..."

_Flashback (Ino)_

"_Sakura!" Ino scrambled out of the elevator as the pinkette crumbled to the floor, racing as fast as she could through the hallway. She swore one of her heels were going to break. "What did you do to her Sasuke?"_

_He ignored her question as she stopped a couple of metres in front of him, her breath coming out a bit quicker than normal as she attempted to glare at him. He only smirked in return, "Well, if it isn't Ino. I haven't seen you in forever."_

"_Thank goodness." she mumbled under her breath, her glare intensifying as she looked at Sakura out of the corner of her eye. She looked like she was still breathing, which was good, but Ino also knew that she wouldn't last much longer. She needed some help._

_If she weren't so close to the Uchiha right now, she would have flipped open her cell phone and called the police, but she knew of the dire consequences. When she had dated him, he had been a little more toned down than he was now – after all, they'd dated back in high school for a while, and his asshole-ish behaviour was only just starting then. She had been lucky, especially that another girl had caught his eye. She shuddered when she remembered what happened to that girl. _

_How else could she get the police to come? She wondered to herself, trying to stay composed. A little voice in the back of her mind whispered, 'Be loud', and she realized that if she screamed enough someone would call the police, even if it was only because she was being a disturbance._

_So she screamed._

_And boy did she scream loud... far louder than she had ever screamed before. Her head felt a little light-headed as she raised her volume. Just as she was about to add another help, she felt a hand slap her across the face, "Shut up woman, do you want the police to come?"_

_She mimicked his smirk, "Yes, I do." _

_Seconds later, she felt herself being thrust against a wall, a hand around her neck as he attempted to strangle her. She struggled, letting out strangled sounds, until she finally managed to kick him in the leg, loosening his grip long enough for her to move a bit out of his reach. _

_Screaming again, although her voice was a bit more scratchy this time, she attempted to stay an arm's length away from him. Eventually though, he had her in his grasp again, this time with a cloth (inwardly, she noticed it was ripped from Sakura's dress, the sick bastard) tied around her mouth. She still tried to struggle, but as he punched her in the stomach, she realized she couldn't anymore._

_She had done all she could, now all she had to do was stay awake long enough for the police to get here. _

_But the question was: How long would that be?_

_Sasuke carelessly dropped her with a loud thump on the ground, obviously thinking that he was finished with her. He turned away from her confidently, about to walk back to his first victim as she glared after him, wincing slightly as she reached a small hand up to wipe the blood out of the corner of her mouth. She stood again, her knees more shaky this time. _

_She called after him as he picked up one of Sakura's limp arms, turning towards her in surprise. He smirked maliciously and tossing the pinkette aside like a rag doll. She couldn't help but think of how much of a monster he was. _

_Ino took a couple of shaky steps forward, until they were right in front of each other, staring at each other heatedly. _

"_Yamanka," his voice was cold, "do you really want to do this?" _

_He made it sound like it didn't make any sense to protect Sakura! She didn't care if they'd had a falling out... Sakura was still her best friend. _Nothing _could ever change that, no matter what she'd said._

"_I've never wanted to do something so much in my life," and with that, she spat in his face. _

_She realized that may of been a bad idea._

_His face flew through ten different emotions, eventually resting on a look that she knew, although, granted, she had never seen it before. It was the famed, 'Uchiha Death Glare'. If looks could kill..._

_Damn. _

"_You-you bitch!" he brought a large hand up and backhanded her, making her fall in a heap on the floor. He stood over her murderously. Just as he was about to kick her head in, the sound of sirens filled the air._

_He looked both ways, as if debating what to do, before he finally lowered his foot."I'm coming for you later, Yamanka." he sent her the, 'Glare' again, before swiftly moving in the opposite direction, down a hallway she didn't even know was there._

"_Thank god."_

_End Flashback (Ino)_

"You did all that... for me?" Sakura asked quietly, her emerald green eyes widening as the blonde nodded, "Did you... did you mean what you said when you were telling your story?"

Ino glanced up from the hem of her shirt she'd been fiddling with, "That you're my best friend? Of course..." she smiled softly at the bewildered girl, "I don't care if we argued, or that we haven't talked in ages. All that matters is here and now, and know that I'll never hate you, no matter what I say."

"You mean that?" tears began to fill her own orbs, tightening her grip on the other girls hand, "I'd been so scared... I thought that I lost you. I'm so glad that we're friends again."

"We never stopped." they smiled at each other for a moment, as a doctor walked into the room, her heels clicking against the tile of the floor.

"Sakura, you're awake!" the woman shrieked, running forward as both girls furiously rubbed the tears out of their eyes. The large busted woman hugged Sakura tightly.

"Tsunade-shishou?" Sakura managed to get out, hugging her back as she attempted to stop the IV cord from getting tangled around the doctor.

"The one an only!" she grinned at her ex-apprentice, beginning her checkup. After a couple of minutes of writing things down on a clipboard, she met the curious green eyes of the woman again, "You're all good. Of course, you'll need to stay for a couple more days, but nothing major."

"Really?" her eyes lit up considerably, and she smiled up at her mentor. "I thought I'd have to stay much longer."

"Well..." Tsunade smirked at the young girl, "you can leave a bit earlier than normal on one condition."

"Damn it..." Sakura mumbled under her breath, "there _is_ a catch."

"Of course there's a catch. You have to start working at the hospital again. I don't believe that your 'mother' is still sick."

Sakura blushed at the lie she had come up with earlier, as she hid her red face in her arms. But she couldn't have returned to her job these last couple of weeks... Sasuke had been getting so protective that she couldn't leave the house. Not to mention, her wounds had been very visible at this point. "I guess I could come back. But I don't think I can handle full time just yet."

"I wouldn't have let you work full time." Tsunade laughed, glancing down at her clipboard once more, "I'd love to visit longer, but it's a full house. I'll check on you in an hour or two."

"Thank you!" Sakura called after her as she exited the room. She turned towards Ino, a smile still on her face, "You go home. You really need to clean yourself up. I'm sure someone can come take care of me."

"Are you sure? I mean, I really don't mind-"

"Go, go," Sakura waved Ino out of the room, a sly smile appearing on her face, "Naruto can come and stay with me anyway."

Ino paused at the door, her body freezing. Her face paled as she spoke her next words, "You mean..." she stopped for a moment, as if debating her next words, "you don't remember?"

"Remember what?" she asked curiously, although she could feel herself begin to tense up inwardly. She tried to reassure herself that it was nothing, but she knew it was. She figured whatever had happened to him was one of her, 'fuzzy spots'. She hoped to god he was alright.

"Naruto... Naruto has been missing since the, uh... the accident. The police haven't been able to find him, but they believe that Sasuke and his gang of thugs took him."

"H-he's gone?" she felt tears began to swim around her beautiful green eyes, "But... but I need him!"

"I know..." Ino looked away, fresh tears filling her own eyes, "we all do."

"Ino, what am I going to do?" she asked, pulling on her pink locks in aggravation. Naruto was her everything, and without him... oh god.

She hesitated, glancing at the pink haired girl with pity, "Wait, I guess. There isn't much we can do."

"I can't just sit around and wait!" Sakura shouted, feeling herself become riled up. "I'm going to find him, and I'm going to bring him home!"

"Sakura... you're hurt."

"I'll get better." she said stubbornly, glaring pointedly at the fresh cast on one of her arms. "It might take a while, but I _will _get him."

"But what if..." Ino trailed off, not wanting to say her next words.

"There is no, 'what if'." Sakura said decidedly, "Sasuke won't kill him for a while. He would have put Naruto in some sort of confined area, making him weak enough so that if he eventually does kill him, it'll be that much easier. He'll definitely keep him for a couple more weeks. He wants to see me suffer."

Ino nodded, "It's almost scary how much you know Sasuke, even though you guys weren't that close."

"Ino," Sakura paused, meeting the eyes' of her friend, "we were close at one time. Before he got violent. I loved him, Ino." she looked down at her hands, "I still do."

"Sakura! How could you love someone that did that to you?"

"I don't know, okay! Don't yell at me. I can't help it. I was with him for so long..." she smiled wistfully, "I'm not _in _love with him anymore. But I do love him, and you can't expect that to change overnight. I'm in love with Naruto now... I just-I just wish I'd gotten to tell him that."

"He already knows."

Sakura looked up in surprise. "What?"

"He's always known that you love him, Sakura. We all have. We've just been waiting for you to wake up and realize your feelings."

"But how-"

"You're the most open person I know. When you feel something, everyone knows it, even if you don't."

Sakura looked unconvinced, "But Naruto's so... so clueless..."

"Sakura, he's aware of _everything _you do. I may be your best _girlfriend, _but Naruto... he's your _best friend._"

Sakura blushed slightly, "That's so embarrassing. Why didn't you tell me I was being so obvious?"

"Because you didn't even know what you were being obvious about!" Ino laughed, waving to Sakura, "But I think I'm going to take up your offer. I'll see you later, Forehead."

"Bye, Pig!" Sakura laughed, waving back with her able hand.

Silence.

She squirmed slightly in her hospital bed, wishing that she had enough energy to get up and move around. "I've got to be doing things..." she mumbled, pressing a clicker that raised the back of her bed.

Naruto's face came to her mind.

_I wonder what you're doing right now..._

She sighed, glancing out the open window. It was evening again, and she knew that soon enough she would fall asleep, welcoming another day. Inwardly, she realized that meant a day closer to finding the beautiful blond boy.

A look of determination took over her eyes, "I swear on my life." she brought a hand to her heart, "I'll find you, and I _will _bring you home."

**End Chapter 4**

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**CHAPTER 4 COMPLETED! I'm so happy that I have a... successful chapter story haha. Anyway, I hope that everyone really liked this chapter, I put a lot of work into it. And I know, the mysterious person in the hall wasn't Naruto... I hope nobody was to disappointed. I just had to have Ino as the person, because it's really important that she makes up with the people closest to her! Also, everyone has been saying, "Sakura needs to step up!", but don't worry, it's coming. Part of the reason why she hasn't really defended herself, is because Sakura is one of those people that puts everyone before herself, so to her... fighting back didn't seem worth it. It was just her that was going to suffer. However, now that Naruto's in trouble, she'll do everything she can to make him safe again! Again, I hope you enjoyed!**

**Please read and review everybody, it would be very much appreciated!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Yours truly,**

**Moe-shi**


	5. Chapter 5

**Black Rose**

**Author: **Moe-shi

**Summary: **After leaving an abusive relationship, Sakura finds solace in Naruto's arms. AU. NaruSaku Warning: Violence

**Rated: **T

**Reviews for the last chapter:**

**Anotherredguy: **Aww... thanks! :) And... ehm... I kind of... didn't. I'm horrible, I know. But anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! ;P

**charles cdv: **I'll try and get the next chapter up as fast as I can so you can see what happens! :)

**tinman96: **Thanks a ton! And... I'm updating now! Hope you like it! :)

**hideki411: **Thanks so much! :) And I guess you'll have to see... next chapter. Sorry... :(

**Shot Down: **Hmm... my first flamer... I feel special. And happy, because it took 44 reviews to get to it ;) aha, I'm just joking. But anyway, I wish you'd used your own account (I don't bite), so I could kind of... explained it to you, without having to type up a huge response at the beginning of the story like I'm going to have to. Sigh. Anyway, here is your response, see, it's even got it's own little paragraph!

I'm sorry that you are unsatisfied with the last chapter, it's just that, well, Sakura and Sasuke have known each other since they were kids. They're like siblings, and... hmm... to explain this better, imagine that you're really close relative (I don't know, whoever you're closest to) hit you a couple of times. You aren't going to stop loving them because of that, although you may stop trusting them, or not like them as much. At the end of the day, they're still someone you care deeply about. But, I know you probably won't listen to this response, and still deny it, but really... her being in love with him still _is _realistic. Sure, it doesn't make much sense to people that haven't been beaten, but most people that are beaten still love the person that did it to them. It's just the way it works. Also, I'm sure your parents or grandparents used to be beaten by someone, whether that be a parent or other guardian. Did they stop loving them because they had 'the belt' pulled out on them? I'm guessing not. Now, I'm not saying that this is true for all cases, but for the purpose of this story, this is true.

I hope this... calms your anger, and if you or anyone else has anymore questions about my story, just ask. Thanks for the review! :)

**love: **I know, it doesn't make much sense to people that haven't went through it, but I hope this next chapter can help explain it a little better. Thanks! Hope you like this one!

**Nutt Man 117: **:P Don't we all? And you'll have to wait and see ;) thanks!

**xTheSkyBurNsx17: **Haha, I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. Well... I feel like a horrible person saying this, but... you'll have to wait longer! Yay. Sorry... I kind of made this a flashback chapter. -.-'

**Masahiro 'Night' Seiran: **You'll see him more next chapter :) Thanks a lot, and I hope you like this chapter!

**manateeface: **Aha thanks, I thought so too! And I'm glad you like it! :)

**Person who didn't give a name so I'm just going to have to answer you: **Thanks so much! I tried to make it pretty suspenseful (and yes, you did spell it right :P), and I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as the previous ones!

**Animaman: **Thanks, I'll think about your suggestion... and probably take it. I think it would be nice to have more characters. Thanks for the suggestion!

**Malverstation: **Thanks a lot! :) I'm updating now. I hope you like this new chapter!

**Darious Frost: **Haha, a lot of people have been suggesting that I use Hebi or something along those lines, and I hadn't really thought of it till then. It's a good idea, and I think I might do it. Anyways, thanks!

**shadow rose2717: **Thanks! And we'll see... ;) I'm not even too sure myself. I know, I'm a horrible author. I'm just kind of writing... although I would like to incorporate more characters.

**Saturn XK: **Yep, I'm continuing! :) I just haven't really been able to find time to update... but, I am now! Better late than never I guess. And no worries, Sasuke will definitely not come out unscathed.

**NOTE: This is a flashback episode, just to help explain how everything happened. If you don't want to read, stop now, or skip ahead to the next chapter (when I have it up).**

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**Chapter 5**

**10 Years Ago**

Sasuke was new.

He was new to the school, he was new to the town... overall, he was just _new._

And even at his young age of eight, he realized just how much people were fascinated by things that were new... things that were different. He was the epitome of different.

With his dark clothes (his mother thought that the darker something was the more expensive it was – or at least the more expensive it _looked_), his fancy hair, his deep brooding eyes, he was everything his classmates were not. He was not... innocent. He had lost that many years ago.

It wasn't that he thought he was above his classmates, certainly not, it was more something along the lines of... being scared of his classmates.

All of his life he had been kept indoors, not allowed to 'fraternize' with the other children. Apparently it wasn't 'professional' and it was something to be looked down upon. "It's just not what Uchiha do."

His parents figured that he didn't need to associate with anyone his own age. Instead, they kept him inside, homeschooling him. That was, until his 7th birthday. They'd had to _move. _Move away from their luxurious resort like home, and into the heart of one of the biggest cities in the world: Konoha city.

Both of his parents needed to help with the police department (father) and company (mother) now, so homeschooling was not an option anymore. He had to actually... go to public school.

With people.

But... he wasn't ready. Not at all.

By the time he started 3rd grade, he was enrolled in Konoha academy, with... _normal _people. They talked, laughed, joked, and he didn't understand it at all. These interactions made no sense to him, and he couldn't even try imitate them.

He figured they were all crazy.

So... he stayed away. He ignored all the giggling girls and the 'tough' boys that came up to him, and he kept to himself, doing the thing he knew best: being by himself.

It might have been why he was so hesitant to stand up for those two strange kids he saw one day after school. But Uchiha's had pride, and he knew the difference between right and wrong.

It all started when he was walking home from Konoha academy. His parents would both be late today, so he certainly didn't need to rush, even though they said that he needed to be home at a certain time. He knew it was because they were both huge control freaks, and they wouldn't be content knowing that he was out walking about.

He would make sure he was back kind of early, but besides that, he had no worries.

That was why he didn't mind taking the long route through the park that day, sticking to the shadows where he was most comfortable. At first he wasn't sure what he saw, but after creeping a bit closer, the scene became apparent to him.

There was a large circle of kids, some of which were older than he was, and some of which he recognized were from his own class. They were surrounding two children that he could only partially see, but it was enough to realize who they were.

He had noticed them in class. After all, it was kind of hard _not _to notice this pair. It wasn't that he knew their names, but he would recognize their faces anywhere. They were both kind of odd looking.

One of them could have been considered normal, he supposed, except for three whisker marks on each of his tanned cheeks. It's what set him apart, besides the fact that not many kids in his town had blonde hair, and the fact that he was so loud. That part was annoying.

The other was so far from normal that he could pick her out a mile away. She was relatively short for her age, and she had a large forehead with big green eyes (weird contrast, he thought decidedly), but it wasn't that that made her so odd. It was her hair colour.

He wasn't sure if it was natural or not, but it was... pink. And not strawberry blonde, or even... tinged pink... it was downright fluorescent _pink. _

He figured that was why she was being made fun of. But the boy?

From his view in the shadows, Sasuke could see the two kids wincing away from some of the older children as they waved around things in their hands. He couldn't really tell what the things were, but he figured they were something big and heavy... like rocks of some sort.

Immediately, he felt some sort of connection to these kids.

Maybe that was what made him do what he did next.

Stepping out of the shadows, he made his presence aware to the group. At first, everyone froze, some of them recognizing him, and some of them taking him in, judging whether or not he was a threat. He supposed he was deemed fine, because the next second a small girl from his 2nd period class was grabbing his hand and dragging him forward, as a big kid called out merrily, "You comin' to join the fun?"

_This is wrong._

He wrenched his hand away from the little girl's grip, glaring at the group of children around him with a snarl. "You guys are... sick."

The group was silent for a moment, frozen, wondering if they'd heard correct. But it only took a moment for their faces to change, twisting back into the sadistic smirks he had seen earlier, as they took a small step towards him, "Well, whatcha gonna do about it?"

"Do you know who I am?" he asked quietly, glowering at them, despite the fact that he was much shorter than most of the kids.

"Someone that's going to be beaten up?" one of the boys asked, and the group erupted into laughter over something that wasn't really all that funny at all.

_Idiots._

"Sasuke." he began, gauging their expressions as he continued. "Sasuke _Uchiha._"

One of the oldest boys seemed to shrink back suddenly, and the others looked at him curiously, not aware of the power behind the name Uchiha. He started to slowly step backwards, muttering quietly to the group, "You guys, he's the police's son. Let's get out of here."

It was like a hundred things happened at once, and immediately the group disbanded, now understanding the severity of the situation. They scattered in all different directions, and Sasuke let out a soft sigh of relief. He hadn't been sure if that would work.

When he looked back to the place where the group had been standing, he was surprised to find that the 'different kids', as he had dubbed them, still stood there.

Rather... one of them laid, while the other crouched to the ground. He could hear the small pink haired girl muttering softly in a panic, "C'mon Naruto-kun, you gotta wake up now. They'll come back soon..."

He wasn't sure what compelled him to go up to them, but he figured it was mostly because they were one and the same. They were all different, and although he wasn't rejected by his classmates as they were, he certainly felt just as out of place as they did.

"H-hello..." he cursed himself for stuttering, but he realized that it probably didn't matter. This girl was too scared of him to care if he stuttered or not.

"Don't touch him." she threw herself in front of the blonde boys body, glaring at him with intense green eyes as she attempted to push her fear away. Oddly, he found it rather... courageous.

"I don't want to hurt him." he muttered, walking towards them purposely, painfully aware that with each step he took she would flinch. "I won't hurt you either." he assured.

She seemed to let out a breath she was holding, but her guard wasn't totally down either. He supposed he didn't really blame her, after all, he was a stranger. A dark, looming stranger.

When he was close enough for her to get a better look at him, she seemed to brighten slightly, "You go to my school." he nodded timidly at her, and her smile grew, "You're not a bully either."

He shook his head, crouching down beside the girl and the blonde as he tried to assess the situation. He pulled up a blank. He knew nothing of... this. He peered into her emerald green eyes (which seemed to change colour with her mood), "What do we do?"

"Well," she started, seeming to switch into an entirely different (bossy, he remarked inwardly) mode, "he's breathing and everything, but he's got a bit of a temperature. Can you soak a piece of cloth in a river bank or something... like... this..." she ripped off a piece of her dress and handed it to him, "I'm going to try and wake him up, but we should put him on his left side first, so he doesn't choke if he vomits. Or should we elevate the legs?" she mused, before shaking her head, "No, we'll put him on his side."

With that, he was pushed off in the direction of what he assumed to be a pond, while the girl stayed behind to take care of the boy. At first he was a little hesitant, but with one last annoyed look from the rose haired girl, he left in search of the water source.

When he arrived back to the small clearing with the damp cloth, Sasuke was surprised to find the blonde boy conscious again, the girl slowly rubbing his back as he muttered incoherent things. He stood there, frozen for a moment, as the electric blue eyes of the boy met his.

"Who's that..." the boy rasped out, although it came out as more of a statement.

The pink haired girl looked over at him, "He's-he's... helping us." she told her friend (he didn't know his name, he realized belatedly), taking the cloth away from Sasuke, placing it over the blonde boy's eyes. "Here, lie down for a while. You have a bit of a fever."

The blonde boy complied after a moment of quiet whining and a soft smack on the arm from the girl, and in a few minutes he was letting out soft snores. The pink haired girl turned her attention to him, her now forest green eyes glinting with curiosity. "I don't mean to be rude, but... who are you, anyway?" on a second thought, she added, "I'm Sakura."

"Didn't you hear me earlier?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her, "My name is Sasuke Uchiha."

She grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. It was an act he had seen the blonde boy do before, "I'm sorry Sasuke-kun, it's just that Naruto-kun passed out, and I wasn't really paying attention anymore."

"His name's Naruto?" he asked, still a little surprised by the 'kun' she added to his name. Nobody had ever done that before.

"Mhm... Naruto Uzumaki. My last names Haruno." she said proudly, as if that name should mean something to him. He tried to look impressed as he asked his next question.

"How did you know all that stuff... like, making Uzumaki-san conscious?" he enquired, unsure of how to refer to the blonde haired boy. He knew he was being formal, but he felt like he couldn't call him Naruto either.

She looked up at him proudly, puffing her chest slightly as she grinned, "I'm going to be a doctor when I get older, I gots to know all that stuff."

He nodded at her, accepting this response with a small smile, as he cautiously got off the ground, "It was good to meet you Sakura-san, but I have to go home now. I'll see you later?"

She smiled bigger than he'd seen all day, "Really?" she blinked for a second, trying to put on a mask of 'coolness', "I mean, um, yeah, that would be fun."

"Alright." he had half the nerve to laugh, but he stopped himself, "Bye, then."

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

When he arrived home, all he could hear was shouting. There were maids and butlers bustling all around the mansion, and Sasuke instantly knew that meant his mother was home.

Oh no...

It wasn't that he didn't love his mother, because he did, it was more that she sometimes scared him.

His mother sometimes got... angry. His big brother, Itachi, told him once that it was because she was bipolar. He wasn't totally sure what that was, but he thought it sounded like an infectious disease. He just hoped it wasn't contagious, and he wished his mom would get better.

Sometimes, when they would go out of the house and have a really fun day, Sasuke would think maybe, just maybe she was cured. After all, the anger was gone, and back was the smile and the hugs. But that was until they got home.

It was about a year ago that he realized what the situation was. It was another one of those 'Uchiha pride' things. His mother had to act all prim and proper whenever company was over, but the second they left she could show her true colours.

Her true colours were scary.

He always kind of wondered why she didn't take the medication the doctor had prescribed for her. After all, it was meant to help her right? It was supposed to make her back into the mommy that Sasuke remembered from his early years. The years before the yelling and the hitting.

You see, when Mikoto Uchiha got angry, she also got... violent. And it wasn't just a little violent, it was very violent. It didn't matter who it was, either, as long as they were within the family.

He, himself, had never been hurt too bad besides bruises and scars, but the rest of the members of his family had received broken bones. Mostly his brother. Sometimes, his brother would jump in front of him, so that Sasuke wouldn't receive the harsh 'beating of the day'... but that only made things worse.

He wished his brother didn't have to feel pain for him, but he could never stand up to his mom himself. He was only 8 years old.

"Sasuke?" a shrill voice rang out, and Sasuke froze, his blood running cold. There she was now. He wanted to hide, but he knew that was a bad idea. Things could only get worse if he did that.

"Mother..." he called back quietly, letting her know where he was as she approached him.

"You were late." she gave him a sickeningly sweet smile. "I told you to be home- when? _When?_"

"Right after school..." he muttered, trying to avoid looking in her crazed eyes.

"I don't think you've learned your lesson." she announced, dragging him off with her to what Sasuke knew to be the sound proofed room.

Here we go again.

**9 Years Ago**

Sasuke quietly sighed, rubbing his arm with a wet cloth, wincing as he tried to get rid of the blood.

All that was left was the clothes...

He glanced down at them with the one eye he could keep open, the other swollen tightly shut, a bruise beginning to form. All of his expensive dark clothes were splattered with blood, like tie-dye, and he couldn't help but wonder what the dry cleaners thought when they cleaned his clothes.

If they cleaned his clothes... for all he knew, his mother could go out and buy him new clothes to replace the ones she bloodied. After all, appearance was everything.

It was funny actually, well... not really all that funny at all, but slightly... ironic? Unexpected? Well, whatever it was, it wasn't at all what people thought. It was weird, because to everyone else, Itachi was the prodigy, Sasuke was the boy ignored by his father, but loved by his mother more than anything. His father was the strict father, not really paying much attention to one of his sons, and leaving no room for mistakes, ever. Mother... well, mother was supposed to be the kind, caring type, the one that loved both boys, and made up for any neglect that they'd received.

How opposite the roles actually were.

"I'm going out!" he heard his brother yell, followed by the sharp sound of the door slamming. He jumped a bit at the noise, wondering inwardly how his brother could stand up to the parents like that.

He could never raise his voice... he feared for his life to much to do that.

But then again, he supposed that his parents could never kill him or his brother, or go _too _far, because what would they tell the public when both of their lovely sons disappeared?

He couldn't help but wonder if that was the only reason he was still alive.

He pulled his shirt over his head, throwing it into the hamper as he grabbed his dark blue cell phone off of the table. He wished he could scrape that Uchiha fan off the back of the case.

_10 missed text messages_

He sighed, wondering what the heck they wanted. He'd only been a way from his phone for an hour... how impatient.

_3 text messages from Sakura Haruno_

_7 text messages from Naruto Uzumaki_

He clicked Sakura's name, and waited a moment.

_Sakura Haruno (9:45):_ **Sasuke-kunnn... me and Naru-kun are going to the mall at 12, wanna commee? **

_Sakura Haruno (10:00):_ **We're changing it to 11:30, cause we're gonna go to a movie or something at like 1. You in?**

_Sakura Haruno (10:30):_ **The time is cutting close, Uchiha, RESPOND.**

...She was getting mad. Responding was probably a good idea.

_Sasuke Uchiha (10:40):_ **Yeah, I'm in... where are we meeting?**

_Sakura Haruno (10:43):_ **YAY. We're meeting at Ichiraku's, Naru said he has a craving.**

Just as he was about to respond, a little message popped up in the corner.

_NEW MESSAGE: Naruto Uzumaki_

He rolled his eyes, pressing ignore.

_Sasuke Uchiha (10:44):_ **...Bipolar woman.**

_Sakura Haruno (10:44):_ **WHAT?**

Sasuke grinned, he loved it when Sakura got all flustered. He didn't actually think that Sakura was bipolar, he would never compare her to his mother. She just always happened to react whenever he said it. She knew he wasn't serious though.

_Naruto Uzumaki (9:45): _**TEME GESS WAT!**

_Naruto Uzumaki (9:58):_ **GESS!**

_Naruto Uzumaki (10:05):_** CMON GESS!**

_Naruto Uzumaki (10:10):_ **OKAY ILL TELL U! ME AND SAKURA ARE GOING TO SEE THAT NEW MOOVIE THAT HAS THE NINJAS IN IT! **

_Naruto Uzumaki (10:20):_ **SAKURA SED SHE ASKEDD U BUT U DIDNT RESPOND ARE U GOING TO COME**

_Naruto Uzumaki (10:25):_ **ARE YOO!**

_Naruto Uzumaki (10:31):_** FINE THEN TEME IM NOT TALKING TO U ANYMORR.**

_Naruto Uzumaki (10:43):_** BUT U TEXT SAKURA! HMPH. **

_Sasuke Uchiha (10:45):_ **Dobe.**

His friends were idiots, but... they were nice enough. Not too... annoying. Tolerable, how about?

Well, at least he didn't mind spending time with them, he thought to himself, grabbing his coat off his bed and heading out his bedroom door. He needed them to escape whatever this home situation was.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

When he got back, he was surprised to find cars lining the driveway. Most of them he didn't recognize, but some of them were police cars from the station. He felt perplexed as to why they were at his house, though, at least in those cars. They usually took normal cars if they came to his house.

So... why were they here?

He felt cautious as he slowly climbed up the stairs, inwardly debating if he actually wanted to go inside or not. At least there wouldn't be any beatings tonight.

"Sasuke?" someone asked unsurely, and he jumped slightly, glancing beside himself to see a man in a suit. He grabbed Sasuke by the elbow, not waiting for an answer, as he led him inside.

"Who are you?" he asked, glaring at the suited man with his dark eyes, as he tried in vain to rip his elbow from the strong man's grip.

"We're social services. We're taking you away from him."

Him? Him?

_His father?_

His father was the last person he needed to worry about. His mother was the one... she was...

But they would never believe him.

In the following hours, people were running around him, making him go in and out of cars, and wait in one place _forever, _before rushing him in another car.

He was tired, and everyone kept asking him about how he was and how he was coping with an 'abusive father'. He gave them the answers they wanted to hear, but all he could really think about was that he wanted to stay with his brother.

He was all he had left.

**6 Years Ago**

As he grew to be a teenager, Sasuke and his brother were forced to move from home to home. It wasn't a quick process, but they certainly didn't stay in one place for too long either.

They were unwanted.

That was probably why he first turned to drugs.

His brother already tended to do them, "It's an escape." he'd said, and he'd assured his little brother that everything was alright and that it was perfectly fine to cool off every once in a while.

But after a bit, it became more of a daily thing.

**5 Years Ago**

Gangs, drugs, violence.

A strong hatred of women.

He'd picked it up from his brother in the years following up to his high school career. After all, he'd always looked up to his brother, so anything his brother did, he tended to do.

It wasn't really a good thing.

**4 Years Ago**

First year of high school, and Sasuke was back in the same area of Konoha he'd been taken from. His brother had recently taken full guardianship of him, and had... well, basically let him go live on his own. If he had to live on his own anywhere, he would rather it be close to his best friends.

Yes, he said it, _best friends. _He'd gotten over calling them acquaintances years ago, and since then they'd became like more of a family. After he'd gone into 'the system' they were the only people that he had kept in contact with.

Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki.

The three of them were as different as someone could be, but for some reason they just... worked. In places where one of them lacked, the others made up for... by ten fold. They all certainly had big personalities, it was really a miracle they didn't kill each other.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, batting her eyelashes at him at what he could only guess she thought was sexy. He knew she was only doing that to fit in, and that the second they would all be back at her house watching movies, she would be punching him in the head and joining in with Naruto with choruses of, "TEME!"

He didn't blame her, though, and he didn't really mind the attention either. If one female had to put the moves on him, he would rather it be her than any of these other mindless girls.

"Hn?" he raised an eyebrow in her direction, and he could tell that she was holding back a smirk, observing the other girls that glowered in her direction. She loved being the centre of attention, because even though she had friends that accepted her for who she was, she wanted more.

Sasuke wished that one day she would see that they were enough.

"Kiba and Ino-pig are going out on a date," she sent him a glare when he looked like he might laugh (you know, if he wasn't an Uchiha), "and she wants me to come along. But... I need someone to bring..."

"No." he replied, already knowing where this was going. He turned his attention in front of him as the teacher began to drone on. They were in 4th period math, and the clock just wasn't going fast enough... he wanted to go home.

"But-" she stopped herself from smacking him over the head, because _that _wouldn't be too good for her image, "Sasuke-kun, would you please, please, _please _come with me? Please? I'll..." she lowered her voice so that nobody else in the class could hear, "give you tomatoes."

Sasuke paused for a moment, a small smirk making it's way to his lips. "Fine. But they better be the good kind."

Her smile brightened, "Only the best."

They both turned their attention back to the clock that was slowly ticking away, both inwardly laughing at the odd looks they were getting from their classmates. They could practically see the gears grinding around in their heads, and when someone asked her friend quietly, "What the _heck _did she whisper in his ear?" Sakura couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips.

They both shared a secret look, laughter bouncing between their eyes. It was fun to have power over people.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Sasuke put a key into his apartment door, twisting it slightly as it clicked open. He entered the dark room, flipping the light switch and dropping his bag by the front door.

He sighed, that was a horribly long day, and it was only half over. What he really needed now was some coff-

"Sasuke." a voice acknowledged him, and he looked around himself wildly, his obsidian orbs finally landing on a tall, dark figure. Itachi.

It wasn't that he didn't love his brother anymore, he just didn't worship him the same way as he did 6 years ago. They'd grown kind of distant, and once Sasuke kicked his drug habit, Itachi had basically left him alone. He supposed that was their 'falling out'.

"Itachi."

Itachi smirked at him, his red eyes judging him harshly. Sasuke instantly knew he was high. "Hello, foolish little brother. How are you?"

"Good." he answered curtly, pushing past him and into the kitchen. He didn't have time to deal with this right now.

"Good, good. What about your two little friends?" Itachi paused for a moment, "The fox boy and that sexy little pink haired girl."

Sasuke froze, whipping around to glare at his brother, "Don't talk about them like that."

"Why shouldn't I?" Itachi chuckled, "Seems like you're starting to care about them too much. Sasuke, bonds can hurt you." he shook his head slightly, as if he was disappointed in his little brother, "I'll have to do something about them."

He didn't doubt what Itachi was saying. His brother was part of a big criminal gang, and with just the flick of his wrist, he could have Sasuke's best friends killed, raped, kidnapped. If he was serious... no, Sasuke couldn't let that happen.

"Them? Hah, I don't even talk to them anymore. But memories are memories and I would rather if you didn't defile what I have left of them." he looked at his brother, wondering if he was buying his story, "I hang with a different crowd now, those two were too..." he almost winced as he said the next words, practically imagining his friend's faces if they ever heard it, "weak."

Itachi seemed satisfied, heading toward the door as if that was the end of the conversation. Just as Sasuke was about to let out a sigh of relief, Itachi glanced back at him, his dark eyes piercing him, "But if I catch you hanging around them, Sasuke, we'll have to fix that little problem, now won't we?"

And with that he was gone, and Sasuke was left to pace the room in inner turmoil. He didn't really mind being alone, he guessed. It was good for him, he supposed, after all, if he wasn't around anyone he could never hurt them. He'd heard that being bipolar runs in your genes, and he'd been getting rather... weird lately. So, yes, it was better for them (his friends) if he wasn't around anyway, he decided, trying to justify it in his mind.

Besides, those two were... they were his everything. If they... if they got hurt, he didn't know if he could go on. But if that meant he couldn't be around them, then so be it.

With that, he picked up his phone and dialled a number he had long since memorized.

"Sakura? Yeah, I can't make it to that date."

"Why?"

"I'm busy."

"Um... okay then Mr. Grumpy."

He hung up the phone.

**2 Years Ago**

People figured that he had hit them, all of the girls he'd been with. He didn't. Sure, maybe he'd yelled, but he'd never hit them.

Never.

It was probably because of how angry he would get at the girls. It wasn't that he disliked them or anything, it was just... they would say these few sayings his mother used to say in the public, to fool everyone, and he would see red. He couldn't help but scream at them, "You're lying!". He didn't believe them when they said that was just how they were.

A lot of girls would break up with him, and then to make themselves seem 'cooler' (Sasuke wasn't sure how abuse was cool at all) they would say he had hit them. It would send everyone swarming to the girl, although nobody actually thought what she said true.

It wasn't until his grade 11 year that people actually started believing the rumours, though. It all started with this girl. Her name was Mitsuki, although most people only referred to her as 'the girl after Ino'. Apparently she wasn't memorable enough for everyone else, but Sasuke remembered her.

Maybe it was because she was one of the only girls he could actually stand since Sakura. In fact, he hadn't even dated her, they'd just been friends. But the second people saw _the Sasuke Uchiha _hanging with a girl, they assumed the two were going out.

When Mitsuki had asked him to pretend, he knew he shouldn't have agreed. But really, they both needed it. He needed it to keep up appearances (if he had it his way, he wouldn't even have a girlfriend, but in order to be one of the 'populars' he needed to constantly be with someone. It was stupid), and she needed it so her parents wouldn't figure out that she was dating an older guy.

It was fine for a while, after all, Mitsuki didn't mind when he yelled at her (she knew his past), and he didn't mind when she used him as an excuse. But one day... one day something happened.

She'd come to him, crying, with bruises all over her arms and cuts all over her body. Her boyfriend, the older one, had _hit _her. If Sasuke had his way, he would have gone and killed the guy, but she stopped him. She said it was too late now, and that all that mattered was making sure people didn't know. Nobody could know she'd been with an older guy.

So... he told her she could tell everyone it was him. That he had hit her in one of his yelling fits, and when she had talked back, he'd just kept hitting her. He knew that it would end whatever popular career he'd started, but he supposed he didn't really care. He just had to stay away from Sakura and Naruto.

Nobody had doubted it when Mitsuki told the lie, but the reaction they gave was not one to be expected. He didn't lose his status, but instead, it _grew. _He was ashamed to say that he knew these people, the ones that came up to him and patted him on the back, "Good job, man. Never really liked her anyway."

Apparently popularity really was everything.

It sickened him.

**1 Year Ago**

One day, when he'd been looking in the mirror, he realized that he reminded himself of his mother. He yelled just as much, and even though the hitting hadn't happened yet, he was just as scary as he'd found her to be.

So, he went to a doctor.

He wasn't at all surprised when it turns out he was the same as his mother. He was right, it did run in the family. But he... he wouldn't let it control him. He took the medicine as prescribed, and most of the time the anger was gone. He felt somewhat normal again, and he began to wonder...

He hadn't seen his brother in almost 2 years now, and he was beginning to think he'd forgotten about him. He'd heard a rumour about an Itachi in Suna, and he hoped it was the same Itachi. Maybe... maybe it was safe to be with his friends again. If they'd take him back.

In the past 3-4 years they hadn't really changed much. Naruto had the same eyes and hair, except they were more vibrant now. His tan was there too, and sometimes Sasuke couldn't help but wonder how he kept it all year round. The only real difference was how much leaner and taller he was. Sakura's odd pink hair had grown out to her waist, although she always kept it up in a bun. Her eyes still randomly changed colour with her mood, and she still stammered. She'd grown into her self-proclaimed large forehead, and she'd gotten curves, and... essentially grown up. They'd both grown up...

_Without me._

He knew it was bad, and he never thought he would think about her that way, but... he'd began to develop feelings for his childhood friend. He didn't know how, as he'd only seen her in the halls, but he wanted to re-get to know her. He wanted to be with her again.

It was why, that one day in the middle of spring, he had approached her.

"Sakura Haruno, right?" he asked, although they both knew that he knew her name. He smirked lightly when a blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Yea." she smiled brightly up at him, "Sasuke Uchiha, right?"

He nodded, although he wasn't really paying attention anymore. Sasuke liked perfection, and that Sakura was, except this offending piece of hair that kept flying around her face. It was out of place, and it was annoying him severely. Without another thought, he reached up and brushed the piece of hair away.

As he moved his hand away slowly, he admired his work, "So beautiful..." he murmured softly, watching as she squirmed under his gaze.

"Please." she laughed lightly, looking down at her hands, and Sasuke could almost feel a blush coming to his cheeks (thank god she'd been looking down. Uchiha's can't blush). She had a beautiful laugh. "I'm hardly pretty, or worth your time."

If he were any other person, he would have laughed out loud, but he settled for a smirk. If anything, he wasn't worth her time. "Oh, Sakura, you are most definitely worth my time."

As she blushed darker (like a rose, he thought inwardly), he brought up a hand, tilting her jaw upwards, so that he could see her eyes. They were a forest green colour, swimming with undertones of brown and black. "Would you be, perhaps, interested in a date?"

He expected a rejection, but in half a second she responded, "Yes!" before she stopped herself, trying to put on a mask of 'coolness'. He almost laughed at how similar this was to the day he'd met her, "I mean, um, sure. I think I'm free... S-sorry, that sounded all desperate and s-stuff, and oh god now I'm _stuttering_-"

He looked at her bemusedly, doing the only thing he could think of to stop her ramblings. He leaned down, kissing her forehead softly. "See you later than, Haruno."

It was then that they'd started dating, and... well, things were perfect. Naruto talked to him now, although he was a little hostile towards him. Sasuke figured it was because Naruto was in love her, and although he felt a little bad... Sasuke needed Sakura right now.

Naruto had had his chance.

But... but then everything went wrong.

They'd only been dating a few months when Itachi showed up at his apartment, a familiar smirk on his face.

He hated that smirk, and with all he'd done, Sasuke was sure he hated his brother too.

"What do you want, Itachi?" he asked his brother, who's eyes were once again red. With the black colour of his orbs, it almost looked like he had little black commas in his eyes, spinning round and round.

"Oh nothing, foolish little brother. I just thought I would come check on you." he held up a bottle of his medication, "Now, what's this Sasuke?" he chuckled, "You're so weak, you know that?"

"I'm not weak." he spat out, glaring holes in his brothers head. He wanted him to leave.

"Yes you are. You need medication to stay sane." he paused for emphasis, toying with his little brothers mind, "Weak."

With that, Sasuke watched in horror as his brother dumped his medication on the floor, stomping on it with a satisfying crunch. "What are you doing?"

"No Uchiha needs medication." Itachi lectured, getting up off the couch and heading towards the door, "Neither do you."

With that, he was gone.

Why did his brother like ruining his life?

**5 Months Ago**

It wasn't that he thought he was above the medicine, it was just that by the time he could get it again (he had certain dates he could refill his medication. When he'd gone back to get some after his brother had smashed them, they'd denied him. Apparently it was addictive, and they thought he was... snorting it) he was too far gone.

He'd been through too many painful highs and lows in those couple of months, he'd turned back to drugs. He tried to make sure he didn't do them in front of Sakura, but... sometimes she would see. She would cry when he did, and he wanted to comfort her, he really did, but... he couldn't.

It was like everything was a blur, and he was just watching a movie. Afterwards, in those few minutes of sanity he would get every once and a while, when he didn't feel totally controlled by his emotions, he would regret every single one of his actions. But then the emotions would be in charge again, and morals didn't seem to matter much anymore.

It was like, every time he saw Sakura, it wasn't Sakura he was seeing... it was like he saw Mikoto instead. He would get angry at her, he would yell, but when he finally realized who he was yelling at, he would hole himself up in his room and not be able to look at himself for weeks. He was ashamed.

However... the longer he went without medication, the further gone he became. Eventually those few moments of sanity disappeared, and there was no room for regrets anymore.

Maybe he should have stayed alone after all.

**End Chapter 5**

* * *

**Well. THAT was intense.**

**Anyway, I was originally just gonna continue on with the story, but I figured it would be better to explain Sasuke and why everything played out the way it did. I'm not saying that it wasn't his fault, I'm just saying that... well, he didn't necassarily decide he was going to hit her, either. I also kind of hoped it would help explain why Sakura still loved him, even after he did all that to her. She knows the side of him when he isn't angry, and... well, they grew up together. They're best friends. They understand each other.**

**Also, on a side note, most of the stuff I say about being bipolar isn't true, or if it is, it's just by chance. I've kind of modified it to fit my story, so I'm sorry if someone actually has this, and is offended. It's not meant to be offensive, and I know some people that are actually bipolar. They're really nice. I just needed something for my story, so again, I don't mean to offend anyone. **

**I've gotten a lot of great ideas from reviews, and if I do choose to use it, I'll try and put ur name at the end of the chapter in this little blurb-y thing. So everyone feel free to send me more ideas!**

**Please read and review, **

**Moe-shi**

**P.S. This is kinda unedited... I didn't really re-read it, cause it's 2 in the morning, so it might be kind of sloppy. Sorry! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Black Rose**

**Author: **Moe-shi

**Summary: **After leaving an abusive relationship, Sakura finds solace in Naruto's arms. AU. NaruSaku Warning: Violence

**Rating: **T

**Disclaimer: **I'm kinda glad that I don't own Naruto - I mean, my version would have probably sucked...

**Reviews for the last chapter:**

**Nutt Man 117: **That's what I was hoping everyone would come away with from that chapter, because he's not necessarily all good, he's just not totally bad, either. And, Sakura _used _to love him like a lover, but her love for him is only on a brother level now. Read on and find out! :) And I hope you enjoy this one!

**Echo Uchiha: **Thanks!

**Analelle: **Thank you! I realized that he seemed kind of un-human at the beginning, and that he was being villanized to an extent that it didn't really fit in the past. I felt like just throwing in bits and pieces of his past wasn't quite enough for people to realize how he would of been had things not went wrong. Anyway, thanks a lot! I try my best! :)

**Lais: **Ahaha thanks! I was like, "WHOA." when I finished writing it (because I sat down for like 4 hours and wrote it), and I just had to sit down and let my brain un-mush. :P And I was hoping that it would seem realistic, because I've never really had it happen to me, so... I was kind of just assuming! And thanks! I hope you like the next one!

**LaughingMan97: **Yeah, it is pretty sad, isn't it? I felt a little depressed writing it...

**bocah elek: **Thanks! I was really hoping everyone would like it! :)

**Lazy Gaga: **I'm glad that you liked it! And I hope that you really like this next chapter!

**micky: **Thanks a lot! I hope you enjoy chapter 6 as much as chapter 5 ;)

**TARA: **Aha, thanks! And yeah, it was pretty intense.

**kittengal33: **Ahaha, I hope you still got it all! And thank you, I try to make them suspensefull. I am :)

**drama3chic: **Good! I was hoping you would say that! And thank you! I really love it when people say that about me! :) I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

**hideki411: **Thank you a lot! And yea, he's still a jerk, but at least not as much! :P and thank you!

**xTheSkyBurNsx17: **Thank goodness! I was really hoping that nobody would get annoyed or mad or anything! And thank you! I tried my best! And ahah, I realized I had to do it when I was thinking that too... -.-'

**update update update: **Right now! :O) - it's a clown.

**Kira: **Thank you so much! I'm looking for a beta, so there can actually be ZERO, but so far I'm pretty happy with it! And than you so, so, so much! It means a lot to me!

**i the bright angel: **Ahaha, I hope you didn't mind that one though! And thank you so much, I'm glad you love it! And no worries, updating now!

**NOTE: Whoa. It's the 6th chapter already. It's kinda making me a little sad, because there's only going to be 3 or 4 more chapters until it's over! It's crazy, because, I mean, when I started this story, I never thought that I would make it this far - and that so many people would enjoy reading it! I really hope that you guys stick with me till the end, and you have no idea how happy all of your support has made me! I just want to say thank you!**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"_Why _hasn't she showed up yet?" a man shouted into the darkness, practically ripping out his bluish-black locks as he paced up and down the small room. He stopped in a small pool of light leaking in from the window above his head, his red eyes glaring into the corner of the cell-like prison, "I thought she loved you."

The small black lump in the corner moved, taking the shape of a skinny man, his knees bent up to his chest, with his head resting against them. Following another insistent stomp from his companion, he slowly looked up, his cerulean blue orbs reflecting the moon light, seeming to illuminate in the tiny room. A small, almost unnoticeable smile made it's way to his lips, "She's smart, Teme, and she's not going to play right into your hands." his smile became wistful, "She's changed, you know."

Sasuke looked like he was going to fight back, but with another glance into the blue eye's of his companion, he slowly leaned against the wall. The energy gradually drained out of him, and he soon found himself lying in a pile on the floor, "We all have, dobe." he said softy, falling back into the old habit of calling each other names.

"Do you ever wish..." Naruto trailed off, running his fingers through his once sunny hair, shaking off some of the dirt that had recently settled there. He stared up into the starry sky through the window opposite him, and he felt his eyes begin to droop as he was pulled into memories of the past.

"Things were different?" Sasuke completed, rubbing his eyes discreetly, trying not to make it obvious that he, too, got tired. Uchiha's couldn't get tired, after all, it would be too much of a_ disgrace. _

Naruto's small smile grew as he observed the boy – now man – who was once his closest friend. He mused quietly to himself about how some things never changed, no matter how old everyone got. _We're all still kids, _he would have laughed at the thought just a couple of weeks ago, but now it seemed like it was the only thing that was true, _we're all just too stubborn to admit it._

Just as he was about to open his mouth to respond, he realized that Sasuke had fallen into a soft sleep. Naruto was right, Sasuke really did look like a kid, at least when he was asleep. He just wished everyone would act the same as they used to. Things were so much more simpler then.

He let his deep blue eyes close, knowing that in the morning this moment between them would be forgotten, and Sasuke would be back to the harsh treating, beating kidnapper he pretended to be.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

"Any updates?" Sakura limped through the door of the investigators office, a curious look lighting up her features as the man behind the desk nodded slightly, returning his attention to the phone in his hand. Her eye's widened, mouthing a quick sorry as she collapsed into the chair across from him.

Waiting for him to finish with his call, her eye's slowly observed his office as they did every time she was in here. The same fancy diplomas met her eyes, the same giant book case of psychological books, along with the random paintings that decorated the walls. They seemed slightly out of place, what with the bright colours and odd shapes, appearing to be the only things with emotion in the whole room.

Even the man in front of her seemed devoid of emotion, and she couldn't help but think to herself, for the umpteenth time since she met him, how interesting of a person he was. His name was Sai, no last name, and he almost looked like a carbon copy of Sasuke, except he was pale in a different way, with darker hair and a slightly different body shape.

Besides the little body differences, the emotions were a big difference between the two. Sasuke liked to pretend he didn't have emotions – whereas he was really overflowing with them, and Sai enjoyed acting like he was filled with a bunch of fuzzy emotions that just weren't there. He wasn't cruel or anything though, more emotionless in an empty slate kind of way, like a blank canvas that he had yet to paint with his brush.

The was the only thing about him that actually _contained _emotions. When she looked at his paintings, she saw huge shapes and colours and ideas that could really only belong to someone with big dreams, but Sai... he was just the opposite.

When he was a teenager, he'd been found outside the entrance to the city, with his knees up to his chest as he rocked back and forth. He had permanent amnesia, and he had to relearn everything from walking to talking to emotions, which he still hadn't really mastered yet. He was excellent at being serious though, which fit with his job of being a private investigator. Or detective, which she liked to call him... much to his displeasure.

He was to uptight for his own good.

"Sakura?" his voice broke into her mind, and her head snapped towards him in surprise. She smiled at him sheepishly.

"Eh... sorry, Sai-kun, I just... got distracted." she folded her hands in her lap, looking up at him with her large green eyes.

He looked lost for a moment, before he snapped back to reality, a fake smile sliding on to his face, "In that big forehead of yours, Ugly?"

That was his nickname for her. Ugly. And Hag. And really any other word that she found even the slightest bit offensive. It was her fault, really, but that didn't stop the big vain on the side of her head from bulging as her fists tightened, her nails cutting into her palm. This is how it had been since she had met him.

_Flashback_

"_Um... is this..." Sakura_ _glanced down at the paper in her hands as she limped through the door of the small office, "Sai's detective office?"_

"_I'm not a detective, I am a private investigator." he said monotonously, and she felt herself shiver. This guy was kind of... intimidating. He smiled, although Sakura instantly knew it was fake, "I'm assuming you're Haruno?"_

"_Yep." she nodded, trying to remain calm as she sat in the chair in front of him. In order to keep herself from freaking out, she amused herself by looking around the room, her eyes eventually landing on the book laying in his hands. "'How to Make Friends'," she read aloud, her eyes narrowing quizzically. "Why do you need that?"_

"_I want to learn how to make friends." he said simply, placing the book down on the desk and __beginning to shuffle through a pile of papers that were lying beside him. Sakura reached forward and snatched the book, her curiosity getting the better of her. _

"_'Chapter 5: Nicknames'," she paused for a moment, looking up at Sai, "you can't learn how to give someone a nickname. It's just something that comes to your mind when you think of them... or maybe a shortening of someone's name. You try with me." she smiled at him encouragingly. _

_His fake smile was back, "How about Ugly?" he asked, and for a second she thought she saw a mischievous glint in his eye, but she brushed it off, as the vain in her head that only bulged when she was very mad began to pulse. _

"_Sai..." she said warningly, standing up in a wobbly, but still intimidating matter, "I'm going to kill you."_

_End Flashback_

"Hag..." he began in a cheerful manner, grinning at her in a weird way that just didn't look right on him. If she remembered correctly, she swore she saw that same grin on one of the people that was on the cover of a magazine in the waiting room. _Sai... _she'd of shook her head if she wasn't pissed at him at the moment. Hag? She wasn't a... a hag!

"Yes, Sai?" she asked, a sickeningly sweet smile on her face, as she took a menacing step towards him. Although the smile didn't drop from his face, he still took a small step away from her. She knew she could be intimidating when she wanted to be.

"Don't you want to hear the news?"

Her ears perked up at the word news, and she slowly lowered her fists, "Go on." she told him cautiously, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Sit down." he told her, the monotone voice back, which she came to recognize as his 'work tone'. She wobbled over to the oak chair in front of his desk, staring up at him expectantly as he continued, "We believe that we've found some more information on the gang that took Naruto," he said, referring to himself and his partner, Shikamaru.

"Well... what is it?" she asked impatiently after he paused for a moment, the words '_Have they found Naruto yet?' _repeating over and over again in her head. He rolled his eyes at her, as he took a deep breath, reaching towards a pile of papers on the desk.

"We believe you may of heard of them," he began, straightening the papers by tapping them on the top of the desk. He slowly began to leaf through them, careful to hide them from her view. He slowly raised one photograph, and she felt a small sound making its way out of her throat as she observed the person in the photo. "Do you recognize this man?"

"Oro-Orochi..." she stopped for a second to catch her breath, the next word coming out as more of a breathy whisper, "Orochimaru."

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

Karin giggled girlishly at Sasuke as he leaned against the stone wall behind them, attempting to block out the annoying girl by staring intently at the man sitting in the prison cell in front of him. _Naruto..._

"Sasuke-kun, are you even listening to me?" she squealed impatiently, and Sasuke had the urge to cover his ears in annoyance, stopping himself from doing so, and choosing the alternative of continuing to ignore her. She tapped her foot a couple more times, and when even that didn't elicit a response from the stoic man, she stomped her food hard on the cold concrete, saying his name in a small, whiny voice.

"Shut up." he told her coldly, pushing past her and walking down the cold hallway of the base, not even glancing at her as he left her stranded in the dark corridors of the prison.

Karin staid frozen for a moment, before her cheeks turned bright red and she jogged after him, her high stilettos clicking on the floor, which echoed throughout the silent stairway as she joined him up in the light. "Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke's permanent glare fixed on her, "Don't call me that." he turned away from her, shrugging off the delicately manicured hand that she placed on his shoulder. "And don't touch me." he added, stomping moodily away from the red head.

Karin's heart began beating faster as she stared after him, a lost look in her eyes, before she grinned, her eye's twinkling with lovestruck awe, "He's _so _dreamy!"

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

"And that's it." Sakura finished, placing her previously gesturing hands at her side. She looked imploringly at Ino, her big green eye's becoming slightly wet. She tried to wipe them away, changing her stance to one that she hoped was intimidating. She couldn't be weak at a time like this.

"So... he's with Sound?" Ino watched as Sakura nodded, trying to avoid her gaze so she could keep herself from crying. Ino knew Sakura well, and she just wished Sakura would feel comfortable enough to cry on her shoulder. But then again, she'd always been a little stubborn.

"Basically." she let out a heavy sigh, crossing her arms as she began pacing the room. She threw her arms up in exasperation, "What can we do, though? This is _Sound. _They have allies everywhere, with the Akatsuki, with gangs in Suna... if we mess with them, we're as good as dead, but..."

"But?"

"But I need him back home. I need my Naruto." she looked lost for a moment, and Ino couldn't hide the pitying look that flashed across her face. To lose someone so close to her... sure, Naruto had always been Ino's friend, but he was Sakura's _everything._

"Well, then..." Ino paused, sending a determined look towards her best friend, "we'll just have to do everything we can to get him back."

The corners of Sakura's lips twitched up into a smile, her green eyes once again shining with tears, "Thank you, Ino." she said softly, "Thank you."

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

"How could they not have shown up yet?" Sasuke spat out under his breath for the umpteenth time that day, stalking up and down the cold, dark hallways of the hideout. The only light came from two torches hanging across from each other on the wall, allowing a soft, flickering light to bathe the hallway.

Kabuto shrunk against the shadows of the wall behind him, letting a small whimpering noise escape him. Sasuke stopped his pacing, sending a glare towards the other member in the room, his red eyes flashing dangerously. Kabuto shivered, his whiny voice coming out in a faltering whisper, "Maybe... Sas-Sasuke- er- um... Sasuke-sama... perhaps it's be-because they cannot... cannot find it?" he ducked out of the way, in fear of being hit.

Sasuke raised his hand, his mind slowly processing the thought. He brought the hand down, stopping just an inch above Kabuto's cheek. The silver-haired man flinched away as Sasuke laughed maliciously, "Perhaps, Kabuto, perhaps that may be the reason." he paused, a smirk stretching across his lips, "Well, what do you suggest we do then, _Kabuto_..."

Kabuto shivered in fear from the way his name was said, hissed out in an almost Orochimaru type manner, but nonetheless sat up a little straighter. His voice was a tad louder, but just as unsure, "Uh... Sasuke-sama... we could... well, we could send her a message."

"A message?" Sasuke quirked an eyebrow towards him, obviously finding the idea pleasing, "What kind of message?"

"One that she could... um... only she could... poss-possibly decode..." he shrunk farther against the wall as Sasuke moved towards him again, although he was surprised when Sasuke ruffled his hair.

"I have just the thing in mind." he smirked, "I knew their was a reason I didn't kill you."

O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

"See you tomorrow, Hinata." Sakura smiled at her blue-haired friend, waving at her as she finished opening the door to Naruto's apartment, stepping inside. "Thanks for today, I really needed it."

"You're w-welcome, Sakura-san." Hinata said back quietly, offering a timid smile towards the pink haired girl. "I-I've got to go th-though. S-see you, then." she bowed for a moment, flashing her friend another small smile, before turning away and walking back to the elevator.

"Bye!" Sakura called after her, waiting a moment before closing the door behind her. She'd been out all day with Hinata, just having a girls day out. None of her other girlfriends had been able to make it, so it had just been the two of them.

She'd needed something to take her mind off of Naruto, and Sasuke, and really just everything that had happened in the past few weeks. Apparently there was nothing she could do right now, or at least that was what Shikamaru told her yesterday. She hadn't wanted to believe it, but... no matter how hard she tried, she hadn't found a way to help. And hacking into a private investigator's files wasn't as easy as she'd thought, either.

So, she'd decided that getting her mind off of it was the best idea, and she really didn't feel like just lying around all day. She'd certainly over think the situation, and that was never a good thing. Luckily, a day with Hinata was just what she'd needed. The good thing about Hinata was that she was polite, and she didn't ask many questions that could even be the slightest bit offensive. She was too kind, only thinking of others, which was a nice break from most of her other friends, not that she didn't love them all the same. Still, though, sometimes she needed someone who didn't put any pressure on her.

Hinata was that person, and she'd almost totally forgot about everything that had happened, although it was still lingering in the back of her mind. She figured she would never _really _stop thinking about it, but it was nice to try.

Of course, staying in Naruto's apartment didn't exactly help the situation, but she really needed to be by him... or something that reminded her of him. She needed him, now more than ever. But right now, it was her turn to be there for him, instead of the other way around.

Sakura sighed, running her fingers through her soft pink locks as she limped into the dark room. She was exhausted. All she wanted to do was go to bed, and sleep _forever. _

Everything was a blur to her as she stumbled through the small apartment, trying to find Naruto's room through half lidded eyes. After stumbling into a couple of the wrong rooms, she was relieved to finally find the familiar place that she'd been sleeping the last couple of days. She'd forgotten to make the bed this morning, too distracted, and was expecting to fall upon a heap of messed up blankets, however she was surprised that she fell on a made bed.

She didn't think anything of it, her eye's already almost completely closed, but when she rolled on to her side, something poked her arm. "Ow!" she screeched, pulling back quickly as her eyes widened. "What the fuck?"

She glanced around the room wildly, her emerald eyes finally landing on the middle of her bed, where she'd just been laying sleepily.

There lay a rose.

_A black rose. _

Her breathing quickened, and she whispered under her breath, "Sasuke."

_Flashback_

_They'd been dating for about 10 months by the time February rolled around, but Sakura wasn't really expecting anything special. Even though he would try to woo her every once and a while, it wasn't like he was a constant romantic. No, definitely not._

_If he was, she'd of had to smack him._

_Besides, they'd gone away to visit her family that Christmas (who had moved back to the small town Sakura had been born in before moving to Konoha), and he'd done plenty of 'wooing' there. So she wasn't really expecting much the day she awoke on the 14th. _

_She figured they would just have a normal day. She would do some paperwork from the hospital for most of the day, maybe some research on that disease that had recently popped up in the southern part of Konoha. Then they'd probably go out for dinner. It was how things worked._

_That was partially why she was surprised to find the house completely empty in the morning. I mean, come on, she wasn't expecting a grand feast or anything, but he had to at least say good morning on _Valentines Day _for crying out loud! _

_She felt the vein in her forehead began to pulse as she ripped apart the house in search of him, her violent tendencies getting the better of her. "Sasuke?" she hollered, re-entering the kitchen with a huff. Her trained medic eyes searched the room for any sign of where he could of gone, until she noticed something out of place._

_There were... roses, or at least that was what she assumed them to be, sitting on her kitchen table. They had to be a fancy hybrid of some sort, because roses most definitely do _not _naturally grow in that shade. Black. _

_It was definitely from Sasuke. It fit him perfectly, really, and she found a soft smile making its way on to her lips, all anger forgotten. Maybe, just maybe she didn't need to beat him quite yet._

_She leaned over the table carefully, plucking a rose from the pile laying in front of her, lifting it slowly to her nose and inhaling deeply. The fragrance that entered her senses weren't exactly sweet – more rich and intoxicating than anything. _

_Inspecting the flower closer, she noticed a small piece of paper folded underneath the pile of flowers, and, still taking small sniffs of the delicate rose, she plucked it off the table and undid it with one hand. Written inside, in a familiar script was a note, _

Sakura,

Meet me at 25 Mosley Avenue at 5 o'clock.

Sasuke.

_She wrinkled her nose slightly, he could be so to the point sometimes. But at least he was doing something for her. That was sweet anyway._

_Humming a soft tune under her breath, she pulled a vase out from under the kitchen sink, filling it with cool water and carefully placing her roses inside. _

_She placed them back onto the table, stepping back to admire her work. A smile graced her lips, _beautiful.

_End Flashback _

Ever since then, he'd been sending her messages with roses, at least up until he'd started acting weird. It was a sweet, romantic way that they communicated, and she used to find it fun and fresh. Now, though, she could only feel something akin to dread settling in the pit of her stomach.

She pounced onto her perfectly made bed (_What a perfectionist, _she inwardly scoffed), snatching her rose from the middle as a flurry of emotions raced through her mind. _Where's the note?_

After moments of searching, she let out a long sigh and fell backwards onto her bed. Was he just trying to tease her now? Play with her? Break her down?

Well, it was working.

Tears that were threatening to spill over began to fill her eyes, and she attempted to study the rose, even though everything looked blurry to her. Taking a whiff of it's addicting smell, she finally let the tears begin to fall. They rolled down her face, and as her vision began to clear, she noticed something on one of the inner petals of the flower.

Written in a sort of white out, there was a number and a word.

"6th date," she read out loud, quietly. She paused for a moment, her eye's turning a shade darker as she realized something, "He doesn't mean that..." she sighed, climbing out of her bed and turning towards the phone that was sitting on her nightstand. Dialling a number she had long since memorized, she spoke into the phone, "I know where he is."

**End Chapter 6**

* * *

**I finally updated it! HOORAY! I know... I suck at updating, but don't worry, it's summer now, and I'll have the next chapter up by August 3rd. Actually, that's probably when I will update, because, DUN DUN DUNNN... it's my birthday! *whoooo~* I'm excited! But anyway, between now and then I'm going to be updating my other stories, so please take a look at those too. I'm so grateful for all of you that have stuck with me through this story, and I'm really happy that everyone's been so patiently waiting for the next chapter. I hope this one wasn't too boring for everyone, but don't worry, the next one will be super exciting! I'm kinda nervous to write it... anyway, I really hoped everyone loved this one!**

**Please leave a review, or a suggestion... or really anything that you would love to see! The stories coming to an end, and I would really appreciate everyone's ideas! **

**Yours truly,**

**Moe-shi**


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